Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini will turn to Karim Benzema for their date with Athletic Bilbao after losing Gonzalo Higuain to injury.

Pellegrini is happy to give French enigma Benzema a chance.

"I watch all of my men closely during training and in each of our games, so Benzema has nothing to prove to me," he said.

"He proves his quality on a daily basis. We need all of our men to be ready in order to have a good season both in La Liga and in the Champions League. It's pointless to just focus on eleven players. This is a large and quality squad."