Real Madrid News
Real Madrid superstar played against Man City with a triceps injury, could miss Valencia clash
According to MARCA, Real Madrid superstar Thibaut Courtois played last night’s game against Manchester City while carrying a triceps injury. It is now expected that the Belgian international will miss the upcoming game against Valencia in La Liga.
Real Madrid were hammered 4-0 by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, which sent them crashing out of the UEFA Champions League at the semi-final stages. And if not for Courtois, the scoreline could have been much worse for Carlo Ancelotti’s men.
Indeed, the Belgian was easily the best Real Madrid player on the night even though he conceded four goals, which should be an indicator of how poor the rest of the team was.
Courtois pulled off two brilliant stops to deny Erling Haaland in the first period and kept Madrid in the game, although he was let down by those around him.
Now, it has emerged that the goalkeeper played the game while carrying a small triceps tear. As per the report, Courtois picked up the injury against Getafe in La Liga last weekend and played through it at the Etihad Stadium.
While his discomfort was not really evident, there were occasions when the Real Madrid staff kept checking on Courtois during the course of the encounter.
With the La Liga title race also over, Courtois will likely be rested against Valencia so that he can recover from his injury issue.
Apart from Courtois, another Real Madrid player, Eduardo Camavinga was also no 100% fit against Manchester City last night after he too picked up an injury against Getafe.
So, it does raise the question about whether Ancelotti really needed to use his frontline players in an inconsequential league game given that Barcelona had all but won the title at that time.
With the international break done and dusted, Real Madrid will be back in action this weekend in La Liga, where they will be looking to catch up to league leaders FC Barcelona.
Coming up for Jose Mourinho & co., who lost their last game before the international break, will be a home game against Villarreal on Saturday.
And, leading up to the game, the Spanish capital club have received welcome news on the injury front.
Mbappe back in group training
Indeed, as per MARCA, Kylian Mbappe will be available for Real Madrid’s match against Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
Having been training individually so far this week, the France captain rejoined group training under Mourinho today, taking a concrete step forward towards making himself available for the game.
The forward looked relaxed and ready to work, putting his boots back on and joining the group as Real Madrid prepare for a demanding run of fixtures throughout October.
And, unless there is any unforeseen setback, everything suggests that Mbappe will be ready to start against the Yellow Submarine come Saturday.
Under scrutiny
The past few weeks have been nothing short of eventful for Mbappe, with his every action and movement under heavy scrutiny.
Playing for France, in Zinedine Zidane’s managerial debut, the 27-year-old superstar scored a goal before asking for a substitution due to a knee injury.
Having flown back to Madrid, he underwent tests, which confirmed the injury, although it was not as serious as was initially feared.
The forward then took week-long holiday with his partner that sparked some debate among supporters and attracted criticism from multiple quarters.
Mbappe returned to Madrid on Monday and participated in individual sessions at Valdebebas over the past couple of days. Now he has resumed normal training with his teammates.
There had been doubts over whether Mbappe would be able to face Villarreal after he picked up the injury on 25 September.
However, the recovery plan followed by the forward appears to have worked, and he is now expected to be in a fully fit condition for Saturday’s match.
