Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao have been in the recovery phase for several weeks and Carlo Ancelotti hopes for the returns of the Belgian goalkeeper and the Brazilian defender for the quarter-final of the Champions League against Manchester City, in three weeks.
Both devastated by a ruptured cruciate knee ligament last August, a few days apart, Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao began their rehabilitation phase with Real Madrid. A few months ago, the Belgian goalkeeper hoped to resume for the last matches of the current year, himself announcing his withdrawal for Euro 2024 with Belgium (he is also in conflict with the coach of the Red Devils, Domenico Tedesco).
In the best case scenario, both players were to resume for the Clasico against Barça on April 21. But according to Marca, Carlo Ancelotti is counting on his two executives from the quarter-finals of the Champions League against Manchester City, with a first leg in three and a half weeks at the Bernabéu, on Tuesday April 9. The return leg is scheduled for the following week, on Wednesday 17th.
Friendly matches during the break
As Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano explains, the Merengues first team will play matches against the club’s youngsters during the international window (next Monday) and Courtois and Militao will be tested. After the break, the imposing leader of La Liga will resume with a shock against Bilbao on March 31, but will not play the following weekend (due to the final of the Bilbao-Mallorca King’s Cup), just before returning to Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens.
Courtois could thus regain his place as number 1 at the expense of Andriy Lunin (who overtook Kepa Arrizabalaga at the start of 2024) and Militao could find Antonio Rüdiger in the central hinge, while David Alaba was also the victim of an injury knee (and is out for the rest of the season).
