17.10.2015 20:37 h

Benitez hopeful on injuries for Paris trip

Real Madrid coach Rafael Benitez is hopeful of having some of his key injured personnel fit for his side's Champions League trip to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.

Madrid moved to the top of La Liga with a comfortable 3-0 win over Levante on Saturday as Cristiano Ronaldo became the club's all-time leading scorer by taking his tally for the Spanish giants to 324 in just 310 games.

Benitez was without Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal, Luka Modric, James Rodriguez and Karim Benzema through injury, whilst Gareth Bale was withdrawn at half-time due to his exertions on international duty with Wales over the past week.

"We have time before the game against PSG. They are all recovering well, but it is a question of how much we want to risk," said Benitez.

"I think some of them will be ready."

Bale was making his first appearance for Madrid in over a month after returning to action with his country after a spell on the sidelines with a calf injury.

However, Benitez insisted he will be fine for the trip to the French capital.

"After it went 2-0 and with the intense week he had, we saw that he was a bit fatigued and looked for more pace," he added.

A first victory in three league games eased the pressure on Benitez, who had been roundly criticised for his negative approach in a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid before the international break.

"We are on the right track. There are three of four small details offensively and defensively that we can improve and work on, but I am not going to reveal them to the opponents.

"To win games and titles we need to keep creating the number of chances we are doing and hopefully reduce the number of chances we are conceding."

Madrid's captain for the day Marcelo opened the scoring after a nervy first 25 minutes for the hosts as he finished off a neat one-two with Ronaldo.

The World Player of the Year then took centre stage to smash home his second and usurp Raul in the Madrid record books before Jese Rodriguez added a late third.

And Marcelo was happy to get back to winning ways after another international break disrupted by injuries.

"I am happy for the goal, but the most important thing is the three goals," he said.

"It is difficult because we have a lot of injured players, but we have to go away with our international teams when we are called up."