Talking about Real Madrid this season is talking about injuries. It has not been an easy year in this regard, with more than 50 injury reports issued, more than 250 games lost by one of its starting players, and only two players who have not been in the infirmary: Arda Güler and Luka Modric. Dealing with multiple absences has not been an easy task for Carlo Ancelotti, who said goodbye to the team after a poor season largely due to this reason, which highlighted a problem with the team’s physical condition and poor planning.
Two of the injuries that have marked Real Madrid’s season, both due to their severity and the importance of the players involved, have been those of Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao. Two key players in the Whites’ defense, their absence has weakened this area of the field, causing many problems for the team. The defense has been a headache, and the team’s performance has made them look like a sieve at times, conceding goals in most of their games this season.
Two serious injuries
Both players went down at the start of the season. Dani Carvajal’s injury came on October 5 in the game against Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabéu. The game was in its final stages when an unfortunate incident involving Yeremi Pino sent the Leganés player to the ground. Medical tests confirmed the worst. The Madrid full-back suffered a triple rupture, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, lateral collateral ligament, and popliteal tendon. An injury that, in principle, ruled him out for the entire season.
A month after the blow of the captain’s injury, Eder Militao was also struck down. The center back was injured on November 9, 2024, after tearing the cruciate ligament in his right knee. This came just as he seemed to be regaining his best form after suffering the same injury to his left knee in August 2023. Another extremely serious injury and another player out for the entire season.
A common goal
They say that the blows you take in life depend a lot on how you take them, and in the case of the two Real Madrid players, they faced their injuries as a challenge and with the key mindset of working from day one to return as soon as possible. The date of June 18, the day the Whites will make their debut in the Club World Cup, was engraved in both their minds.
The hard work of both players has surprised even the club’s medical staff due to their remarkable recovery and the way they have shortened their recovery times in both cases thanks to their consistency and dedication. The idea in both cases is for them to build up minutes so that they can start next season in the best possible condition.
Both players have worked tirelessly to be ready for June and to be able to play in the World Cup, as everything points to that being the case. In recent hours, we have seen how Eder Militao continues to work hard to be available. The Real Madrid center back is training in Brazil before returning to Valdebebas on June 9 to report to Xabi Alonso. The center back is training on sand under the supervision of his personal physiotherapist, Romario Queiroz, and Jaime Salom, one of the club’s trusted physios.
The World Cup is the challenge, and it will be up to Xabi Alonso to decide how many minutes both players will get. They don’t want to push them too hard, as the goal is for them to be at full strength for LaLiga, but to do that, they need to get some playing time during the summer tournament.