The Brazilian midfielder picked up his fourth yellow cards in Week 12 against Betis - if he is booked at Mestalla he will miss El Clásico on 18 December.
Casemiro has gone another weekend without getting booked and now has to get through Saturday's game against Valencia at Mestalla to ensure he is avoids suspension, to leave him free for El Clásico on 18 December.
If the Real Madrid midfielder goes into the book against Valencia, he will complete a cycle of five bookings and be automatically suspended for the Barcelona game at Camp Nou.
Casemiro has gone 421 minutes since his last yellow card in LaLiga - he was booked 39 minutes into the 0-0 draw with Betis in Week 12 (2 November).
None of the four fouls he committed against Espanyol at the weekend were deemed worthy of a yellow card, in the view of match official, Jaime Latre.
Casemiro's presence in El Clásico has been a worry for Zidane for the past two months. He was at risk of missing the game when it was scheduled to be played on the original date, 26 October, after being shown a yellow card (his fourth of the campaign) in the game against Granada on 5 October.
However a few days later he was back on three yellow cards after having the one he was shown in the Week 3 trip to Villarreal overturned on appeal.
It is not as though Zidane could rest Casemiro for the Valencia game - the Brazilian is, along with captain Sergio Ramos, one of the most used players this season.
He has missed just half an hour in two games - he was taken off on 59 minutes in the Levante game (with the team 3-1 up at the Bernabéu) as he had only just come back from international duty with Brazil; and was replaced by Luka Modric on the hour when Galatasaray were at the Bernabéu last month - also when Madrid were cruising on the scoreboard. In total, Casemiro has racked up 1,740 minutes of playing time with Real Madrid this season - 96.7% of the total possible .
Ramos was another player who Madrid were concerned about missing El Clásico due to the accumulation of yellow cards. The central defender is currently on three and managed to avoid punishment in the Espanyol game which would have left him in the same position as Casemiro ahead of the Valencia trip.
Lehbdntuy
0
He must be on rest to avoid
vecabinrsz
0
casemiro should rest and zidane must sign a new (CDM) in January transfer window
Lacbelost
0
Z think 🤔 okay
IkramNichari
0
I think zizu should rest him fede can cover of his place because casemiro rule is very important in classico
Jutciknrtz
1
Casemiro should be rested.
CR7nly
4
it's better if zizou rests him for that match. there will be two advantages. one is since he has playing every matches continuously he may have been tired and maybe needs rest. and he will try to foul against valencia definitely cos it's an important match and will get booked. so its better rest him
maddyfootballer
3
Rest him for that match, he has beeen playing so many matches without a break
TenTony
2
Must he play against Valencia? A mixture of Fede, Modric and Kroos can make it great.
Yummnpuz
0
he should not play. the midfield can be kroos valverde isco or james
huddekor
1
zidane should rest him
Mystola
0
zidane should use Valverde Kroos Modric/Isco instead
none of them is a defensive midfielder
kodaeklr
2
zidane must rest him to avoid suspension
vidkmnst
0
is not by force to play the match
zoodelnoru
0
He shouldn’t play
Noora
2
If it were Ramos, it will be impossible 😂😂😂
EmmanuelAdansiPipim
0
Zizou always has a plan
yiseilnory
1
zidane should use Valverde Kroos Modric/Isco instead
sioeknopz
1
Rest him
ayushkarki
0
and we don't have his backup also😭