Real Madrid have a couple of really enticing and crucial games coming up against Manchester City in the Champions League in April. They’ve had their fair share of injuries this season — a lot of them, actually — particularly in the defense.
Real Madrid have been forced to play Aurelien Tchouameni as a centre-back for many games this season, with even Dani Carvajal contributing as a central defender on a few occasions. Injuries to Eder Militao and David Alaba have caused an injury crisis.
The good thing is that Militao is finally close to a return to first-team action. He has been training with the team, and a return looks on the horizon for the talented Brazillian centre-back.
However, expecting him to play against Manchester City in the first leg would be a bit too premature, according to reports.
Jose Felix Diaz reports that although Militao is recovering well and is in full team training, at this point, it is unlikely that he will start against Manchester City at the Bernabeu.
It wouldn’t make sense to throw him into the lineup against Manchester City without having him play a game or two before that, so unless he’s able to start or come off the bench against Athletic Club on the weekend — which probably isn’t going to happen — he won’t start against Man City at the Bernabeu.
This is good for the team as well because as good as he is, it would be an out-of-form Militao playing his first professional game since August. It would be better for him to play against Mallorca first and then attempt to feature in the second leg.
There is no need to rush him as he is already training with the team ahead of schedule. Real Madrid fans, however, will have to hope Nacho Fernandez brings his A game to the Bernabeu if he does start, as he’s been pretty mediocre this season.
There could be a case where Tchouameni starts as a centre-back, and Eduardo Camavinga plays as the pivot, but that also risks both of them missing the second leg if they get a yellow each.
Carlo Ancelotti has a really big decision to make.
Hridyam Arora is a football journalist who covers Real Madrid for Managing Madrid and can be found in various press boxes across England. He writes about Real Madrid, hosts the Castilla Corner – a podcast about Real Madrid’s youth academy – and runs Managing Madrid’s socials. He is an editor at Trivela Effect. He has worked for plenty of different sites like Football Espana, The Real Champs, The Pride Of London, Brush With Bamboo, Villarreal USA, etc.