Carlo Ancelotti says Jude Bellingham is available for Real Madrid’s Champions League opener against Stuttgart on Tuesday following a spell out with a muscular injury.
Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni is also back in contention after withdrawing from the France squad for September’s international break due to a foot issue.
Ancelotti explained defender Eder Militao did not train on Monday as he recovers after playing 90 minutes during Madrid’s victory over Real Sociedad on Saturday but would “100 per cent” be available on Tuesday.
“Bellingham is back, Tchouameni is back,” Ancelotti said. “Militao didn’t train today because he needed a day to recover.”
On 26-year-old Militao, Ancelotti added: “We have thought about giving him one more day of rest, to take away some work with the ball, but tomorrow he will be 100 per cent available.”
Bellingham, 21, has been sidelined since August after sustained a muscular injury to his lower right leg in training, forcing him to miss Madrid’s last four La Liga matches and England’s two Nations League fixtures this month.
24-year-old Tchouameni sat out the weekend’s win over Real Sociedad due to the foot injury that had kept him out of France’s September camp.
The return of Bellingham and Tchouameni comes after forward Brahim Diaz suffered a hip injury on Saturday that is set to keep him out for at least two months.
Midfielders Eduardo Camavinga and Dani Ceballos are also sidelined, with the former out with knee ligament damage and the latter with an ankle ligament injury.
Amid the number of injuries his side are contending with, Ancelotti criticised the busy fixture schedule ahead of the newly-expanded Champions League format beginning tomorrow.
“We’ve looked at what we can do (with injuries), but it’s not in our hands,” Ancelotti said. “The calendar is too demanding. A new competition is coming and you don’t know how it’s going to turn out. It may or may not be more entertaining.
“But what is certain is that we have two more matches. If the governing bodies don’t start thinking that players get injured because they play too much, we have a problem. I call for the number of matches to be reduced in order to have more attractive competitions.”
(Pierre-Philippe Macrou/AFP via Getty Images)
