Carlo Ancelotti praises Jude Bellingham following Real Madrid’s Champions League win, but says the England star wishes his Spaniard well. (1:14)
Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal will be out for a month, sources told ESPN, after injuring his calf in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Granada.
Spanish foreigner Carvajal, who has been in the most productive form of his career this season, making 17 appearances for Madrid in all competitions, was substituted at half-time of the La Liga match at the Bernabeu and replaced by Lucas Vazquez.
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The right-back is the latest player to join Madrid’s long injury list, which already included Thibaut Courtois, Éder Militão, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric, Arda Güler and Vinícius Júnior.
“Following the examinations carried out by the Real Madrid Medical Services on our player Dani Carvajal, he has been diagnosed with an injury to the soleus of his left leg,” Real Madrid said in a statement on Monday.
Sources told ESPN that the club hopes to have Carvajal available for the Spanish Super Cup, and Madrid will face Atletico Madrid in the semifinals on Jan. 10.
Despite their injuries, Madrid are the highest-ranked team in La Liga after 15 games (point on 38 points with second-placed Girona) and have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League as champions of the organization.
After the Granada game, coach Carlo Ancelotti said he hoped Carvajal’s injury was “not serious” but that the player would be examined by the medical staff.
Last week, Carvajal spoke out against the congested fixture list that top players face, saying many would be open to taking a pay cut if it meant playing fewer games and avoiding injuries.
“There are a lot of injuries, and a lot of them are due to the schedule,” Carvajal said at a Nov. 28 news conference.
“A lot of people are asking ‘why are players taking pay cuts?’We didn’t say we wouldn’t. If we had to win less and play fewer games, that wouldn’t be a problem. You don’t see the players at their most productive and the quality of the games decreases.
“It’s a calendar that can’t continue,” Ancelotti said last month.
“Those who are preparing the calendar have to think about it. We have this problem, and it’s going to get worse. The solution is simple. Reduce the number of matches. Coaches and players can’t do that. LaLiga, UEFA and FIFA”