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.
Luis Aragones has again omitted Raul from his Spain squad as the Real Madrid captain was left out for the crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Denmark next week.
Despite his impressive form for Los Merengues, Raul has failed to win his place back with la Seleccion and the national team coach remains loyal to his favoured forwards.
Spain take on Denmark in the crunch Group F encounter on October 13, where a victory for the visitors to Aarhus would push them to the cusp of qualification for the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland next summer.
Carles Puyol is back in the squad, having missed last month's matches through injury, while Valencia's Raul Albiol and Espanyol's Albert Riera are the surprise inclusions.
"Our qualification for EURO 2008 is at stake," Aragones said. "I know Riera from my time at Mallorca and he's technically a great player."
After playing Denmark at the weekend, Spain then travel to Helsinki to take on Finland, who are well placed in Group A, in a friendly.
Defenders: Pablo Ibanez (Atletico de Madrid), Mariano Pernia (Atletico de Madrid), Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Raul Albiol (Valencia).
Midfielders: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (FC Barcelona), David Silva (Valencia), Xavi Hernandez (FC Barcelona), David Albelda (Valencia), Miguel Angel Angulo (Valencia), Joaquin (Valencia), Albert Riera (Espanyol).
Forwards: David Villa (Valencia), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Luis Garcia (Espanyol).
04 10 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.
