England striker Michael Owen has been left out of the Real Madrid squad to play Athletic Bilbao this weekend because of a minor leg strain.

The 24-year-old played the last 10 minutes of his side's 1-0 victory against Osasuna last Tuesday but was only able to jog around the pitch in Friday's training session and will not travel to Bilbao with the rest of his team mates.

Owen has made just one start for Real in the league since joining the club from Liverpool for 12 million euros ($14.76 million) in the close season.

With Raul likely to fill in on the left in the absence of injured midfielders Zinedine Zidane and Santiago Solari, Guti and Fernando Morientes are favourites to join Ronaldo in the Real attack for Saturday's match.