{"id":8437,"date":"2025-02-18T12:45:49","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T13:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/preforeclosurefortunes.com\/?p=8437"},"modified":"2025-02-18T14:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T14:09:10","slug":"real-madrid-confirm-injury-boost-ahead-of-man-city-champions-league-second-leg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/preforeclosurefortunes.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/18\/real-madrid-confirm-injury-boost-ahead-of-man-city-champions-league-second-leg\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Madrid confirm injury boost ahead of Man City Champions League second leg"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Real\t<\/div>
Carlo Ancelotti revealed the latest before Wednesday’s second leg (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Real Madrid<\/a> boss Carlo Ancelotti<\/a> confirmed a huge injury boost for his side ahead of their Champions League<\/a> play-off second leg against Manchester City<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The defending champions looked like they were heading to a first-leg defeat at the Etihad Stadium after Erling Haaland converted from the spot in the 80th minute.<\/p>\n

However, a remarkable turnaround in the game’s dying moments saw Real score twice, courtesy of Brahim Diaz and Jude Bellingham – to snatch a dramatic 3-2 win.<\/a><\/p>\n

The result puts Ancelotti’s side in a commanding position ahead of the second leg at the Bernabeu and there was more good news for the 15-time winners ahead of Wednesday’s clash.<\/a><\/p>\n

Defensive injuries have seen Real deploy midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni alongside 21-year-old Raul Asencio in central defence\u00a0for the past three games.<\/p>\n

But Ancelotti is now once again able to call upon experienced centre-backs Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba after the pair were seen in training on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

While Alaba is unlikely to be thrown straight back into the starting XI having not started a game since December of 2023, Ancelotti confirmed that Rudiger is in contention to make his first start since suffering a muscle injury at the start of February.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Real\t<\/div>
Antonio Rudiger is back in contention for Real Madrid (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

‘Rudiger can play from the start, Tchouameni can play as a pivot and Asencio can play as a centre-back,’ Ancelotti confirmed in a press conference. <\/p>\n

Real, though will still be without makeshift right-back Lucas Vazquez who picked up a hamstring injury prior to the first leg.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Real\t<\/div>
David Alaba has also returnedGetty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Federico Valverde filled in at right-back against City last week but it nursing a knock after their weekend draw with Osasuna.<\/a><\/p>\n

‘Lucas Vazquez will be on the bench, but he has not yet completed his recovery plan,’ Ancelotti confirmed.<\/p>\n

‘We\u2019ll see how Valverde, who had a knock against Osasuna, is. Raul (Asencio) can also play at right-back.’<\/p>\n

Speaking at the weekend,<\/a> City boss Pep Guardiola suggested his team had little more than a 1 per cent chance of progressing to the last-16<\/a>, but Ancelotti is confident that his opposite number’s comments were little more than mind games.<\/p>\n

‘He really doesn\u2019t think so,’ Ancelotti responded. ‘Tomorrow I\u2019m going to ask him before the game. <\/p>\n

‘He thinks he has more just like we don\u2019t think we have 99%. We think we have a small advantage, take advantage of it and play the same game as in the first leg, which went well.’<\/p>\n

For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carlo Ancelotti revealed the latest before Wednesday’s second leg (Picture: Getty) Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti confirmed a huge injury boost for his side ahead of their Champions League play-off second leg against Manchester City. The defending champions looked like they were heading to a first-leg defeat at the Etihad Stadium after Erling Haaland converted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/preforeclosurefortunes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8437"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/preforeclosurefortunes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/preforeclosurefortunes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preforeclosurefortunes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preforeclosurefortunes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8437"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/preforeclosurefortunes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8443,"href":"https:\/\/preforeclosurefortunes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8437\/revisions\/8443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preforeclosurefortunes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/preforeclosurefortunes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preforeclosurefortunes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preforeclosurefortunes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}