Real Madrid had one eye on Manchester City when making a number of changes for their La Liga win over Mallorca this weekend, but one enforced selection hands Carlo Ancelotti an injury concern ahead of their trip to the Etihad.
Ancelotti has named a 22-man travelling squad to take on City in Manchester on Wednesday – although that included suspended centre-back Aurelien Tchouameni, who will travel to England but won’t be able to feature in the game.
Ancelotti dropped Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Carvajal, Toni Kroos, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo to the bench for the 1-0 win that keeps Real top of La Liga, with Jude Bellingham and Luka Modric replaced during Saturday’s game.
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In came Nacho, who is expected to replace the suspended Tchouameni on Wednesday against City, with Tchouameni advancing into his natural midfield position and scoring the only goal of the game. Camavinga, Carvajal and Vinicius came off the bench, as did Eder Militao – who returned from injury and is another in contention to play at centre-back in Manchester.
Ancelotti denied that his changes were for fitness reasons, but he did reveal that Rodrygo’s absence was due to a ‘knock’. The Brazilian scored at the Bernabeu in the Champions League first leg, but was substituted on 71 minutes last week for former City youngster Brahim Diaz.
“I think we played well. I did not give rest due to a physical aspect. Everyone was fine. Only Rodrygo, who had a knock,” Ancelotti said at the weekend.
Having sat out the Mallorca game, Rodrygo could now be a doubt for the City return leg, and Ancelotti will offer an update on the forward’s fitness when he faces the media in Manchester on Tuesday evening. Rodrygo is in the squad named on Monday, raising hopes for the visitors that he will be in contention.
When probed on his centre-back dilemma, Ancelotti wasn’t giving anything away when asked who would replace Tchouameni, having previously suggested the choice will be between Nacho and Militao. However, he did jokingly confirm that Antonio Rudiger will definitely start at the Etihad, with Militao only coming on against Mallorca in the 90th minute.
“I wanted to give him more minutes in the second half, but the match was there. We put him in at the end to enhance the aerial game,” Ancelotti said. “I’ll write this one down. Rudiger is going to play the second leg.
“It is a very important victory that brings us closer to the title. We have a good streak and now let’s think about Wednesday. We have time to recover.”
Real Madrid travelling squad vs Man City: Lunin, Arrizabalaga, Fran; Carvajal, Militao, Nacho, Vazquez, Garcia, Rudiger, Mendy; Bellingham, Kroos, Modric, Manavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni*, Cebbalos, Gular; Vinicius, Rodrygo, Joselu, Brahim Diaz.
