Three key players of Real Madrid are in doubt for the crucial second-leg match against Manchester City in the Champions League semi-final. The manager of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, revealed that Karim Benzema, Rodrygo and David Alaba have not recovered from the injuries they sustained in the first-leg game.
The first-leg game at the Bernabeu ended in a 1-1 draw, giving City an advantage for the second-leg game at the Etihad next week. However, Real Madrid suffered a setback when Benzema, Rodrygo and Alaba missed the training session on Saturday due to their injuries.
Ancelotti said that he will not take any risks with the injured players and will rest them for Saturday’s La Liga game against Getafe. He also said that he cannot guarantee their availability for the second-leg game against City on Wednesday. “We are quite good. We have some doubts with some footballers who received knocks in Tuesday’s game. Benzema, Alaba and Rodrygo have still not recovered,” said Ancelotti.
“[Dani] Ceballos and [Ferland] Mendy return, they can play tomorrow. The team is good and motivated to win tomorrow. The players who have doubts in tomorrow’s game are not going to play… and the mission is to recover them for that game [at City].
The physical ‘issue’ does not exist.” Ancelotti also confirmed that Eder Militao will be back for the second-leg game, and said that he will not rest any other players, including goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and first-leg scorer Vinicius Jr.
He said: “Courtois is going to play tomorrow… and Vini too, I don’t know if from the beginning but he’s going to play tomorrow. Of course I have to take everything into account, the players that won’t play and not take risks. Tomorrow’s game demands a lot from us against a team that is struggling not to get relegated. We need freshness and energy. But we are going to have a competitive team.”
