David Alaba needed 399 days to recover from the ACL injury he suffered last year. However, upon his return in January, the Austrian international was sidelined again with injury, this time a pain in his left adductor muscle during a training session. Captain Carlo Ancelotti said Alaba would need 2-3 weeks to return.
Real Madrid will play Leganes in the Copa Del Rey quarter-finals tomorrow morning, a few days before the Madrid Derby with Atletico. This is a very important match because if Real loses, Atletico will take over the top spot in La Liga. Not to mention, if Barcelona wins against Sevilla, they will be only 1 point behind Real.
Not stopping there, next week, Real Madrid will begin the UEFA Champions League play-off series. Their opponent in the first leg away is Manchester City. If they have full squad, Real Madrid will still be rated higher even playing away. However, at this point, they are not sure if they are safe after leaving Etihad.
One of Real Madrid's weaknesses this season has been a defence that has been ravaged by injuries. Antonio Rudiger was forced off the pitch in last weekend's away defeat to Espanyol due to an injury, with no official diagnosis yet. Initial reports are that the German international has suffered a right hamstring injury, but doctors want to monitor him further to find the exact cause.
Rudiger's return is expected to take about two weeks. This means the German international will also miss the matches against Leganes, Atletico Madrid and Man City.
When the defense was in a patchwork state, Ancelotti used to let Aurelien Tchouameni play as a center back. The French midfielder played well and tried very hard, but he had to have a top player like Militao, Rudiger or Alaba next to him. Currently, Real Madrid do not have all three of these pillars in the defense. Therefore, the most likely center back pairing for Ancelotti at the moment is Raul Asencio playing with Tchouameni.
Before Alaba and Rudiger, Dani Carvajal also suffered a ligament injury and is expected to miss the rest of the season, and may not return until early next season. Not only that, key strikers like Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe are likely to miss the Madrid Derby for the same reason. If this happens, it will be a disaster for Los Blancos.
Some other personnel, including Eduardo Camavinga, whose return date has not been set, also caused Carletto to lose a versatile option, who can play both midfielder and defender.
Since the beginning of the season, Real Madrid has always had to make up for their defense with their offense. Against opponents with very strong attacks like Atletico or Man City, Real Madrid will probably have to compete to see which team scores more goals, rather than relying on a solid defense to keep a clean sheet.
