After securing passage to the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad, Real Madrid host Valencia in an attempt to apply pressure to Barcelona in the La Liga title race. Los Blancos are sweating on the fitness at the goalkeeping position, with their trip to Arsenal just days away.
Thibaut Courtois has been nursing an injury since the international break, pulling a muscle before a game with Ukraine for Belgium, with his recovery much slower than expected. Meanwhile Andriy Lunin deputised against Leganes and Real Sociedad, but on Wednesday also had calf issue. He is a doubt for their clash against Valencia, meaning 19-year-old goalkeeper Fran Gonzalez could make his professional debut.
“Courtois is much better, we think he could be back Tuesday, we don’t know about tomorrow,” Ancelotti explained on Friday.
“Lunin has a small muscle problem. He will test it out today. If not, we have confidence in Fran. Great goalkeeper. His only problem is that he is young. But sooner or later your opportunity comes. We’re all convinced that he has a great future and will be a great goalkeeper.”
Meanwhile Jude Bellingham has been tipped to rest before the Arsenal game, after playing 120 minutes against Real Sociedad.
“It’s an option, Bellingham also has a [body] structure that allows him to recover quickly. Right now, I don’t want to give many more details about how the players are recovering, how they are. But resting him is an option.”
Four Real Madrid players are currently under investigation from UEFA due to their conduct against Atletico Madrid. Dani Ceballos, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior are predicted to receive fines, but Los Blancos reportedly fear Antonio Rudiger could be suspended against Arsenal.
“We have to wait, there’s nothing more to it. I have no doubt that he will be able to play on Tuesday,” Ancelotti said calmly.
One of his potential replacements would be David Alaba, but he was under the microscope for the wrong reasons on Tuesday, after scoring two own goals and failing to mark Mikel Oyarzabal effectively for La Real’s fourth goal. Ancelotti was asked about the defensive prowess of the team.
“It’s true that we have improved in that regard, I don’t think we made too many inidividual errors. Alaba, it was unfortunate that he scored two own goals for how the ball rebounded. But more generally, he played a good game.”
“We had a very low expected goals, and ...
