Real Madrid will have a “new signing” for the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich at the end of the month.
The record winners of Europe’s elite tournament are just three games away from winning their big-eared trophy for an unprecedented 15th time, provided everything goes in their favor.
That’s the case on Wednesday at the Etihad, where Los Blancos faced the quarter-final second leg against defending champions Manchester City in a 3-3 draw at the Bernabeu.
In the end, however, it was the club’s never-to-say attitude that prevailed and allowed Antonio Rudiger to score the winning penalty in a 4-3 penalty shootout triumph that resulted in a decider with Bayern Munich.
Although Madrid lost Dani Carvajal, who was suspended for the first leg at the Allianz Arena on April 30, they do have a “new signing” for the draw, Eder Militao, according to OK Diario.
The Brazilian finally returned from a torn ACL last month against the club he first injured in August, Athletic Club, and came off the bench for the final 10 minutes of extra time in Manchester.
Despite asking to take a penalty against Ederson, fearing that his Brazilian teammate knows him too well, as Carlo Ancelotti showed, the centre-back will gain minutes in Madrid’s upcoming matches against FC Barcelona in the Clasico and Real Sociedad.
He is not expected to start in Bavaria, where Ancelotti is expected to opt to partner Nacho or Aurelien Tchouameni and Rudiger.
But at the Bernabeu, where Militao will likely team up with the German on home soil, while David Alaba will be out of contention until next season at the earliest.
With Militao and Rudiger, Madrid have two of the centre-backs on aggregate who will provide a lot of muscle in the triangle if Tchouameni gets ahead of them in a pivot against Bayern.