Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid team-mates arrive in Girona as Zinedine Zidane insists La Liga clash will go ahead amid political upheaval

Real Madrid arrived at their hotel in Girona on Saturday night ahead of their La Liga clash with the Catalan side, with coach Zinedine Zidane confident the game will not be affected by the country's ongoing political crisis.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Co arrived at their hotel in Catalonia on ahead of their trip to face the newly-promoted Girona on Sunday afternoon.

The region has been at the centre of an unfolding political crisis in the country but Zidane insisted his side will keep sport and politics separate when they prepare for the La Liga meeting.

‘Bale is in good spirits,’ said Zidane. ‘He’s feeling better now that he’s training on the pitch, although he’s not yet rejoined the team. We’ll see how things go next week.’

Zidane also refused to complain about having less recovery time than Tottenham ahead of their meeting. ‘We are used to playing a lot of games close together,' he said.

This is Girona’s first ever top flight meeting with Real Madrid. Manchester City’s parent company, the City Football Group, own a 45 per cent share in the club and they have several players on loan there including Pablo Maffeo who man-marked Leo Messi when Barcelona visited earlier this month.