Following the drama of the Ballon d’Or ceremony on Monday, Real Madrid stars returned to training today as they start preparations for the weekend’s La Liga clash against Valencia.
Real Madrid will be motivated to produce a strong reaction when they face Los Che after a forgetful few days, starting with the Clasico defeat and followed by Vinicius Jr.’s Ballon d’Or loss.
Rudiger’s availability in doubt
Heading into the game though, Real Madrid are sweating over the fitness of key defender Antonio Rudiger.
The German international finished the Clasico with some muscle problems but thankfully tests ruled out an injury and confirmed he is dealing with some overload.
However, according to MARCA, Rudiger did not train with the rest of the group today and instead did some individual work inside the gym facilities.
While there is still time for the game against Valencia, this does raise some doubts over the seasoned defender’s availability for the encounter.
If Rudiger does not recover in time, Carlo Ancelotti will likely turn to Aurelien Tchouameni to partner Eder Militao in defence.
Rodrygo begins individual training
While Ancelotti did not necessarily recover any injured stars in today’s training, one player, Rodrygo Goes, started doing individual training on the pitch.
The 23-year-old forward has been out with a hamstring injury which he picked up last week against Borussia Dortmund.
However, in a positive development, he has already started working with the ball on the grass, hinting that a return might not be far away.
Thibaut Courtois and David Alaba still remain sidelined, however.