Real Madrid Coach Manuel Pellegrini Holds Casting Call For Defenders
With Portuguese international Pepe out with a season ending knee injury, Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini called five players up from the youth ranks today, four of which were defenders.
With Portuguese international Pepe out with a season ending knee injury, Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini called five players up from the youth ranks today, four of which were defenders.
According to AS, the Chilean coach called up Velayos, Marcos Alonso, Gary, Mateos, and Mosquera all of which look to be possibilities in his plans for covering Pepe's absence.
The five players trained with the first team in a session marked by snow in the Spanish capital. Christoph Metzelder, Guti, and Marcelo were all absent from normal training, recovering from their respective injuries and knocks, while Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Pepe were out, the former because of surgery to correct tonsilitis and the latter because of the aforementioned anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear.
Fernando Gago was able to return to training today after recovering from flu-like symptoms and should be available for Saturday's match against Zaragoza.
It is widely speculated that Ezequiel Garay will fill Pepe's shoes in the centre of defence, pairing with Spanish international Raul Albiol, although the club has not discounted signing a defender in the January transfer window.