Real Madrid have suffered a blow ahead of their final Champions League group stage match, with Karim Benzema ruled out of the fixture with a hamstring problem.

The Frenchman, who recently came in the top five of the Ballon d’Or, has scored five goals in the Champions League across the first five games but will be absent as Real need a result to confirm top spot in the group.

A win for Inter would place the reigning Serie A champions on top, but anything less will grant first place to Los Blancos.

There is potential for plenty of changes from the weekend’s 2-0 win against Real Sociedad, and Carlo Ancelotti will also have one eye cast on the Madrid derby on Sunday night.

There should be plenty of time for the Italian to manage the squad between the two fixtures, though, and Ancelotti will name a strong team to ensure top spot is secured.

Thibaut Courtois will start in goal, and the back four should remain unchanged with Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy either side of the centre-back pairing of David Alaba and Eder Militao.

Casemiro should hold the base of midfield, but Toni Kroos could drop out to accommodate Federico Valverde in midfield, with Luka Modric completing the trio.

Without Benzema up front, there could be a rare start for Luka Jovic. The Serbian hasn’t started a club game all season, but sprung off the bench to score and assist for Madrid in Benzema’s absence.

Marco Asensio could come in on the right wing in place of Rodrygo, while Vinicius Junior will keep his place on the left and look to continue his monstrous campaign so far.

Real Madrid starting XI versus Inter