Real Madrid has not had much luck with injuries in the last 18 months, and their misfortunes have continued in their party against Espanyol. With Eder Militao, he is already an absent in the long term, and David Alaba only returned after he also broke his previous cross ligament, another central defender has now suffered a scare.
Due to these injuries to Militao and Alaba, Antonio Rudiger has been a Pilar of Real Madrid since the beginning of last season. Because of this, he has not been given many opportunities to rest, with Carlo Ancelotti only with Aurelien Tchouameni and Raul Asencio as his other options at the Defense Center.
Ancelotti, absolute guilty.
You cannot force Rudiger to play each and every minutes, especially when you have tried Asencio and has played very well.
We are going to pay it very expensive. pic.twitter.com/ycxw7wtyat
– 𝐃 𝐀 𝐈‼. (@Danii7mm) February 1, 2025
It was always a risk with Rudiger playing so much football, since he has suffered serious injuries in the past: his LCA was broken while he was in Rome, and he also needed knee surgery during his time in Chelsea. It seems that these could have reached it, since it was forced in the early stages against Espanyol with an injury that is believed to be in the same area.
At this stage, it is impossible to deter Champions, there could be serious doubts about the availability of the German defender for that.
It has been reported that Ancelotti has planned to have Alaba as headline against Man City, although his idea would have been that he and Rudiger were partners at the Defense Center. Now, it could be that the Austrian veteran is replacement.
Updates on Rudiger’s condition are expected in the next 24-48 hours. Real Madrid will expect its early substitution at the stage front stadium to have been just a caution, and may have the opportunity to rest before those games against Man City.