Real get Ramos boost for Atalanta

Real Madrid will be looking to book their spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League when they welcome Atalanta BC for the second leg of their last-16 tie tonight.

Los Blancos hold a slight advantage heading into the clash in Madrid, having recorded a 1-0 victory when the two teams met in the first leg on February 24, with Ferland Mendy netting late on for the Spanish club.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has said he is at a loss to explain forward Eden Hazard's latest injury setback. The Belgian international joined Real in a 150 million euro ($178.83 million) deal in 2019 but has been blighted by injuries, making 25 La Liga appearances since signing. After returning from a muscle problem for the final 15 minutes in Saturday's last-gasp 2-1 win over Elche, Zidane said Hazard will miss Tuesday's Champions League home leg.

Sergio Ramos returned on Saturday but the bigger question is whether he is back for good. After two months out with a knee injury, Ramos played an hour in Madrid's win over Elche, with the plan to blow away the cobwebs ready for a start against Atalanta in the second leg of the Champions League on Tuesday.

His availability should be a significant boost for Madrid, who have a 1-0 advantage from last month's first leg in Italy and will be confident of being Spain's first, and perhaps only, survivor in the tournament's quarter-finals.