La Liga
Real Madrid:Jude Bellingham Set To Be Sidelined For Weeks With Muscle Injury
Real Madrid midfielder, Jude Bellingham, sustained an injury during training, Real manager Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday.
The England international was a key player last season when Real won the Champions League and La Liga titles.
“Bellingham had a blow, he is being assessed,” Ancelotti told a press conference when asked whether Bellingham would be available for Sunday’s La Liga clash against Real Valladolid.
Ancelotti, who typically addresses the media a day before each Madrid match, opted to alter the schedule this time to conduct his final training session behind closed doors at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Ancelotti said his unusual move had nothing to do with Madrid’s drab performance in a 1-1 draw at Mallorca last weekend which left the usually calm and collected Ancelotti fuming at his players’ effort.
“It’s nothing special, I’m doing it just to test the pitch because it has changed compared to last year. I want the players to try the new pitch to see how they feel there. There is nothing superstitious or anything else behind it,” Ancelotti said.
The Italian, however, emphasized that he requires an improved performance to deploy four attacking players, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, and Bellingham, upfront and only two conventional midfielders.
“It was a pretty clear game to evaluate; we lacked balance, and it’s not very complicated. There is a clear solution,” Ancelotti said.
“With such an attacking team, the forwards have to work a bit harder. We have tried to fix it with a lot of work this week.”
Ancelotti expects a warm welcome by Real’s fans for Mbappe’s home debut which is expected to be sold out.
“It’s going to be a beautiful day for Mbappe, playing for the first time at the Bernabeu wearing Real’s jersey… The fans are going to enjoy it a lot, I’m sure of that,” Ancelotti said.
