Real Madrid and Atlético will represent Spanish football among the 32 teams participating in the Club World Cup this summer. The World Cup will be held from June 14 to July 13 in the United States and FIFA has promised a record distribution of more than one billion dollars (about 930 million euros) among the 32 participating teams.
It will be the tournament that closes a very long season which, for teams like Real Madrid, can end with nearly 80 games played. A high number of games that was criticized by the coach of the white team himself, Carlo Ancelotti. “FIFA forgets that the players and the clubs will not participate in that tournament. A single match for Real Madrid is worth 20 million and FIFA wants to give us that amount for the whole cup. Negative. Like us, other clubs will reject the invitation,” Ancelotti criticized in an interview with Il Giornale.
Statements that he later had to rectify: “My words about the FIFA Club World Cup have not been interpreted in the way that I intended. It is not in my interest to reject the possibility of playing in a tournament that I consider to be a great opportunity to continue fighting for big titles with Real Madrid”.
Real Madrid and injuries
The truth is that the number of matches and the poor distribution of playing time by Carlo Ancelotti have made life very difficult for Real Madrid this season. The physical demands of such a long season for a team like Madrid, which is fighting to win three titles in three different competitions, push the squad to the limit. Real Madrid has accumulated nearly 60 medical reports since the preseason.
The Real Madrid defense has been the most punished line throughout the season. The merengues started the season losing Carvajal for the whole season. The right back suffered a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament, rupture of the external collateral ligament and rupture of the popliteal tendon in his right leg; and Eder Militao, center back, with a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament affecting both menisci in his right leg; Alaba was still recovering from his injury and, when he reappeared, he was injured again, at the same time as Rüdiger and shortly afterwards Lucas Vázquez.
The last to suffer from this curse of defensive injuries was Ferland Mendy, who got injured in the Champions League match against Atlético de Madrid. As the only left back, it was the turn of Fran García, who also got injured, but recovered during the international break.
Carvajal could make it to the Club World Cup
One of the losses that has hurt Real Madrid the most this season has been that of Dani Carvajal due to his great performance and his importance within the dressing room. His absence has also been greatly felt as Plan B, Lucas Vázquez, has not performed as expected.
The willpower of the Leganés player has made his recovery almost miraculous and he is already setting a date for his return. “It’s going very well, little by little. The challenge is to make it to the end of May, let’s see if we can do it,” Carvajal said on ‘El Chiringuito’.
Carvajal replied with a “hopefully” when asked if he will be at the Club World Cup. Carvajal is convinced that he will be ready by June 14th, the date on which the tournament begins. The footballer is so motivated that the doctors and the people who work with him constantly ask him to calm down and to set himself the goal of returning only when he is ready: “We have had to stop him”.
Carvajal acknowledged his predisposition to continue working hard and shorten his return date to the pitch several weeks ago. “I’m like an animal. I’m doing very well, progressing day by day, in excellent time and without setbacks.”