3 injuries could doom Real Madrid vs. Girona in title decider

Real Madrid will face Girona on Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Santiago Bernabéu in a matchup that could very well decide the 2023/24 LaLiga title at the end of the campaign.

Last season, Los Blancos doomed themselves in the title race by losing 2-1 late to Barcelona, effectively killing their chances of coming back.

This season, Real are in the driver’s seat with two points separating them from world football’s biggest underdog story in 2023/24, but a head-to-head loss at home could erase that deficit and come back to bite them at the end of the campaign.

Real Madrid could be at a huge disadvantage on Saturday with three vital players potentially out. Superstar winger Vinícius Júnior is a doubt, as are center backs Nacho Fernández and Antonio Rüdiger.

Although Vini Jr. is a Ballon d’Or-caliber player and already a Real Madrid icon, the losses of the center backs could actually be a bigger deal, even after Artem Dovbyk’s injury and other key absences for Girona.

That’s because Rüdiger and Nacho are the only real center backs left in Madrid. Florentino Pérez rejected Carlo Ancelotti’s pleas for a new center back like António Silva, Leny Yoro, or even a veteran this winter.

Both David Alaba and Éder Militão suffered torn ACLs. Real Madrid will have to call upon non-CBs whenever Nacho and Rüdiger are out, such as fullbacks Ferland Mendy and Dani Carvajal.

That can work against mid-level teams in LaLiga, but as Atlético Madrid showed last weekend, the margin for error is so slim at the highest level, especially with errors inside the box at center back.

Madridistas will hope all three of these players can suit up. And if all three of them are out and Real Madrid lose this one, Madridistas will be pointing the finger at Flo for being so complacent again with filling a key need.