Real Madrid suffers two key injuries on eve of El Clásico

Real Madrid is set to miss Thibaut Courtois and Rodrygo Goes in Saturday’s El Clasico because of injuries. Los Blancos recorded a sensational comeback win over Borussia Dortmund, but Carlo Ancelotti will now have to find solutions for one of the biggest games of the season.

Madrid’s season plighted by injuries

With only 22 players in the first team, the Italian tactician has the smallest squad out of all clubs LaLiga and Champions League clubs. And that was further tested with injuries since the start of the campaign. One of the club’s highest earners, David Alaba is yet to return to action after a serious knee injury. Euro 2024 winner Dani Carvajal enters a challenging recovery phase following an incident late against Villareal.

Both defenders will certainly not return before 2025. Meanwhile, Moroccan international Brahim Díaz hopes to make a full recovery from a hamstring injury in mid-December. Earlier in the season, Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga missed multiple games due to injury layoffs.

Real Madrid also kept Vinicius Junior and Éder Militão from joining Brazil’s squad for October’s World Cup qualifiers, but they played all 14 games for the club this season.

Real Madrid injuries before El Clasico open opportunities

Having missed the Villareal game and the defeat at Lille because of muscular discomfort, Courtois will now be on the sidelines for a few weeks for a similar issue. The Belgian only played the last month of last season following two knee surgeries.

Back then, Real Madrid signed Kepa Arrizabalaga on loan to provide competition for Andriy Lunin. Kepa, who still holds the record for the most expensive goalkeeper, returns to the Premier League with another loan deal taking him into Bournemouth after making 20 appearances for the Spanish capital club.

Lunin not only won the battle to play between the posts in Courtois’ absence, but he was also a big reason for Real Madrid’s 15th Champions League triumph. In particular, his excellent showing knocked out defending champions Manchester City in the quarter-final stage.

Courtois retook his place in the final played at Wembley Stadium. But he’ll now be unavailable at least for the next few games. When he was injured at the start of this month, the international break reduced the number of games he has missed. 

However, the Ukrainian is no stranger to LaLiga’s decorated fixture. Lunin won each of the three El Clásicos he played so far.

Rodrygo’s last action crucial in win over Dortmund

Julian Brandt’s loose touch was decisive in Lucas Vázquez’s excellent finish from a difficult angle. It put Real Madrid in front for the first time against Dortmund. But, before all of that, Rodrygo showed his trickery to keep the ball on the right flank.

The Brazilian winger immediately came off. Now, he will be unavailable for Saturday’s showdown due to a hamstring issue. He only featured off the bench in Real Madrid’s last two league games. Most expected him to return to the starting lineup against Barcelona before the unfortunate injury.

Rodrygo scored and assisted in last season’s 4-1 victory over Barcelona in a Supercoppa final staged in Saudi Arabia. Vinicius Junior, who scored a hat-trick in that game, repeated the feat in Tuesday’s win against Dortmund. 

Alongside the odds-on Ballon d’Or favorite, Kylian Mbappé will make his El Clásico debut. Rodrygo’s absence will likely mean Bellingham plays a more attacking role. Either Aurélien Tchouaméni or Camavinga can come on in the midfield. Youngsters Arda Güler and Endrick, who was an unused sub against Dortmund, provide more options for Ancelotti. 

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