Fabio Cannavaro and Mahamadou Diarra will not be ready in time to play for Real Madrid against Olympiacos and have been left out of Bernd Schuster's squad.
Both players have been suffering from knee injuries and have not trained in the build-up to the Champions League encounter in Athens on Wednesday night.
While Diarra is still battling back from his problem, Cannavaro has been left out after being advised by doctor's that playing could see the injury worsen as he was hoping to risk playing.
Following the withdrawals, Sergio Ramos is set to move into the middle alongside Christoph Metzelder with Michel Salgado taking over on the right side of the back four.
According to reports, Fernando Gago is Schuster's preferred option to start in Diarra's place in midfield.
Madrid were already without Gabriel Heinze, Arjen Robben and Pepe, who all have muscle injuries.
Marseille defender Taye Taiwo has been handed a two-match ban after being sent-off against St Etienne.
Taiwo picked up the ban after being dismissed during his side's defeat last Saturday.
His absence will further weaken a side that is struggling in Ligue 1, although the Mediterranean club has made an impressive start to their Champions League campaign, winning games against Besiktas and Liverpool.
Metz players Julien Francois and Cheikh Matar Gueye, Nancy's Sebastien Puygrenier and Johan Elmander of Toulouse have also been banned for one match.
05 October 2007
Dutch winger Arjen Robben is a doubt for Real Madrid's match at home to Recreativo Huelva on Sunday after receiving a blow to his right knee in Wednesday's 2-2 draw at Lazio in the Champions League.
Brazilian forward Robinho is also doubtful because of an ankle strain, but German defender Christoph Metzelder should be available after recovering from a knee injury.
Champions Real lead the standings by a point from Villarreal and Valencia, with Barcelona a further point behind in fourth.
05 October 2007
Werder Bremen midfielders Torsten Frings and Tim Borowski are back in Germany's squad for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Ireland and the Czech Republic, but striker Miroslav Klose and captain Michael Ballack are still missing.
Klose has re-injured his right knee and Ballack is still recovering from an ankle operation. The Chelsea midfielder has not played since April. Klose leads the Bundesliga with eight goals for Bayern Munich.
Also missing are defenders Philipp Lahm of Bayern Munich and Christian Pander of Schalke and Stuttgart midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger.
Frings and Borowski return after missing the start of the season with knee injuries. Also back is Werder defender Clemens Fritz.
Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez is also back in the 22-man roster announced by coach Joachim Loew on Friday. Gomez missed last month's qualifier against Wales and the friendly against Romania.
Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is in the squad although he hasn't played for more than a month because of an elbow injury.
Germany leads Group D with 22 points from eight games. The Czechs have 20 points from nine games and Ireland 14, also from nine games.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Timo Hildebrand (Valencia), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal)
Defenders: Gonzalo Castro (Bayer Leverkusen), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Manuel Friedrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), Marcell Jansen (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid)
Midfielders: Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Roberto Hilbert (Stuttgart), David Odonkor (Betis Sevilla), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Bernd Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburger SV)
Forwards: Mario Gomez (Stuttgart), Patrick Helmes (Cologne), Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke 04), Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich)
04 October 2007
Fabio Cannavaro praised Lazio for their performance, but admits 'lazy' Real Madrid have much to learn about team spirit and defending as a unit.
'Lazio played a great game and we didn't do too well, as we should not have left so much space and were lucky they didn't make the most of that,' he said after the 2-2 draw at the Olimpico.
'I have been playing in Spain for a year and there are differences. You defend less as a unit and more as individuals, so you get a lot of one-against-one or even two-against-one. This is their mentality and that is tough to change, even though we tried last season.'
Fabio Capello won the Liga title with Real, but was fired because his style of play was not considered to be entertaining enough.
Cannavaro was one of the few imports requested by Capello that remained at the club and he revealed the difficulties he has to deal with in Madrid.
'I always tell them to help out the defence, as the important thing in a team is balance and everyone fighting together,' he told Sky Italia television.
'I can't ask Ruud van Nistelrooy and Raul to work in defence, but I can tell them to adjust their position slightly during the difficult times when we are under pressure. When you are on the field with attacking midfielders like Wesley Sneijder, Guti and Arjen Robben, they get lazy and focus more on the attack rather than coming back to help out. We do discuss these things.'
Gabriel Heinze was used as Cannavaro's central defensive partner in that Champions League encounter.
'We have had injuries to Pepe and Metzelder, while we needed a bit more attacking flair down the right with Sergio Ramos, so Heinze was chosen to partner me in the centre. We have a large squad and the Coach likes to change regularly so everyone gets a rest.'
Real Madrid now share top spot in Group C with Olympiacos, who won 3-1 away to Werder Bremen, on four points. Lazio have two points, Werder are yet to get off the mark.
