James Rodríguez, who joined up with Real Madrid on the Chinese leg of their tour, 11 days later than the rest of the squad, has been on a personalised training programme this week.

The idea is to get the Colombian up to speed with his teammates, physically speaking, because in purely footballing terms, the events in Gijón showed that James ought to be a fixture in the line-up this term. The team were completely transformed in attack when the former Monaco, Porto and Banfield star was introduced.

James looks odds-on to make the starting XI against Betis, as he is scheduled to complete his training regimen by the end of the week. He helped jump-start his chances by going in to Valdebebas on Tuesday, when the squad had a day off, to continue his bid to reach tip-top condition.

Despite the reports unleashed by James's presence on the bench at El Molinón, Rafa Benítez is a big fan of the Colombian and has no doubts that he will play a vital role this season. The coach considers the Colombian one of the most important members of the squad because of his skill set and his leadership, in spite of the fact that the 24-year-old has only been at the club for just over a year.