<span class="az1">Back to the daily grind</span><br/><br/><span class="subtitulo">Satruday's starters stayed in the gym while their teammates focused on recovery work</span><br/><br/><span class="b">Real Madrid returned to work on Monday after a well-deserved day off. With a four-point cushion on their closest pursuers, Bernd Schuster's men began preparing for their two matches this week; Partizan Belgrade on Wednesday, followed by Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.</span><br/><span class="par">In a fog-covered morning in the Spanish capital, Real Madrid returned to the daily grind to begin preparing for Wednesday's Santiago Bernabéu Trophy match against Partizan Belgrade. It's just the beginning of the final stretch prior to the Christmas break. The final mad dash of the year includes six matches in less than 20 days. <p>The Whites spent their first thirty minutes back at Valdebebas in the gymnasium for recovery work. While Saturday's starters remained indoors, the rest of the squad headed to the turf. </p><p>Saviola, Gago, Higuaín, Salgado, Drenthe, Metzelder, Soldado, Robben, Torres, Balboa, Dudek, and Codina braved the elements and began the session with warmup and mobility exercises. They then split into two teams to play a practice match between two mini-goals. Bernd Schuster and Manolo Ruiz handed out bibs, pitting Balboa, Michel, Robben, Soldado, and Metzelder against Saviola, Gago, Torres, Drenthe, and Higuaín. <br/><span class="par">The only starter to set foot outside was Iker Casillas. The goalkeeper who played his 400th match for Real Madrid against Racing joined Dudek and Codina, who had already begun training with Pedro Jaro. <p><b><span class="color1"><font color="#d5d52b">Emptying out the sick bay</font></span></b><br/><font color="#d5d52b">Gabriel Heinze continues recovering from a bruised right knee ands spent the morning working with José Luis San Martín. The Argentine jogged at a fast pace for twenty minutes while his teammates worked out in the gym. <br/></font><br/></p></span></p></span><br/><span class="par">The only starter to set foot outside was Iker Casillas. The goalkeeper who played his 400th match for Real Madrid against Racing joined Dudek and Codina, who had already begun training with Pedro Jaro. <p><b><span class="color1"><font color="#d5d52b">Emptying out the sick bay</font></span></b><br/><font color="#d5d52b">Gabriel Heinze continues recovering from a bruised right knee ands spent the morning working with José Luis San Martín. The Argentine jogged at a fast pace for twenty minutes while his teammates worked out in the gym. <br/></font><br/></p></span>