Real Madrid’s injury problems are starting to get out of hand this season.
The team lost starting goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois before the campaign started and centre-back Eder Militao on matchday one, both to ACL injuries. More recently, key players like Aurelien Tchouameni, Vinicius Junior and Eduardo Camavinga have ended up on the sidelines as well, and are expected to remain there for the foreseeable future.
Jude Bellingham also suffered a shoulder injury recently. However, the Englishman made his return and even scored at the weekend against Cadiz.
Unfortunately, this is not the end of Real Madrid’s injury problems. It looks like Luka Modric might miss a few games at least.
As tweeted by Arancha Rodriguez, there is optimism regarding Modric’s injury. But no matter how short-term the issue is, he will miss the game against Napoli and almost certainly, Granada.
Modric was expected to see increased playing time in these upcoming matches due to the lack of fit midfielders because of injuries. However, now the Croatian is set to be sidelined with an injury himself, although it is expected to be a short-term issue.
With this latest injury in the midfield, the squad is left with just three fit midfielders, those being Toni Kroos, Fede Valverde and Dani Ceballos. Bellingham plays more of a free-roaming role at the tip of the diamond formation.
With the number of injuries, not only in midfield but all across the pitch, it will be interesting to see how Carlo Ancelotti manages to rotate the squad over the coming weeks and months. One also has to consider the footballing schedule at this point. This is not a problem exclusive to Real Madrid but all over Europe, with players suffering fitness problems more often than ever before.