David Alaba's serious injury in the match against Villarreal on December 17 opened a period of study at Real Madrid about the possibility of incorporating a center back in the winter market that was about to begin. The Austrian's long-term absence was added to that of Eder Militão, who at the beginning of the season had also suffered a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. However, this Tuesday, with the transfer advantage already open, Carlo Ancelotti assured that the club had ruled out incorporating a reinforcement for a position that has been left with only two players: “At this moment we are not contemplating signing another center back. We think that we are obviously missing two very important centre-backs, but we have two others that we trust a lot, Nacho and Rüdiger, and others who in an emergency can do very well, which are Tchouameni and Carvajal”, he explained. “We are not going to sign.”
The club has been exploring the options, and neither those of players on loan nor those of possible signings have convinced it. So Madrid faces crucial moments in the dispute for several titles with only two healthy centre-backs. Militão could play again at the beginning of April, before a hypothetical Champions League quarterfinal, and with 30 of the 38 matchdays already consumed. Before that, the Spanish Super Cup in January in Saudi Arabia will have already been decided, and the semifinals of the Copa del Rey, whose final is on April 6. There could be up to 23 games, starting this Wednesday at the Bernabéu against Mallorca (7:15 p.m., Dazn), in which Tchouameni will once again partner with Rüdiger in the center of defense, since Nacho must serve a suspension match after the direct red card he saw on December 21 in Mendizorroza against Alavés.
Ancelotti will not have a new central defender, but he already sees how several of the injured ones are returning. He announced Carvajal's starting role against Mallorca, and suggested that Vinicius is also fit to start the match: “I haven't decided yet,” he said. “I have to talk about it with the player and the doctors. Vinicius in training has shown that he is very good.”
He showed more caution with Arda Güler, who has suffered injury after injury since he signed in July and has not yet made his debut: “The important thing for him is that he is fine, that he has returned to training with the team, that little by little he is recovering his best level. We all have to think about not being in a hurry. He is 18 years old. He has all the time in the world. He is ready, and if I can give him minutes, I will give them to him tomorrow. If not, it will be another time.” He has a lot of confidence in the Turk: “We have many resources that have not yet been able to express themselves. One of them is Arda Güler.”
The case of the centre-backs seems closed, but that of the starting goalkeeper is not settled. Before the Christmas break, Ancelotti announced that after the restart he would choose a reference goalkeeper for the rest of the season, but this Tuesday he revised that intention: “I have not made the decision because these goalkeepers, both of them, make me doubt. It is not right for either of us that I choose the starting goalkeeper at this moment. They are both very good. For each game I am going to choose the goalkeeper who gives me the most confidence.” Lunin will play against Mallorca, because Kepa has just come back from the flu and has not trained in recent days.
This Tuesday's appearance was Ancelotti's first since December 29, when his renewal until 2026 was announced. He insisted on his old idea that Madrid's will be his last bench, although until the contract extension he was very receptive to interest. of the Brazilian federation. And he added a detail about the end of his career: “It is my last bench, but when this ends I don't know. I think 2026 may only be partial. I can still be here after 2026. It depends on how successful we can be. It may not be the last year, because I can still be here. “I will be a coach until 2026, and I hope I can be a coach in 2027 and 2028.”
You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes in Facebook and xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
#Ancelotti #sign #centreback
