Add up and continue in the Madrid infirmary. Jude Bellingham suffers a high-grade sprain in his left ankle, as reported this Sunday by the club, and the medical forecasts indicate that the Englishman would not be available until the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Leipzig, on March 6 . In between, the white team has four games: the first leg in Germany (Tuesday), Rayo in Vallecas (February 18), Seville at home (25) and Valencia in Mestalla (March 2).
The Englishman’s loss for the next European duel is added to that of Antonio Rüdiger, who suffers an injury to the vastus lateralis of his left thigh and it is estimated that he will be out of the field for about two weeks. On the other hand, Carlo Ancelotti does hope to recover Nacho, who trained normally this Sunday after being left out of the match against Girona due to overload. He should form the axis of the defense together with the pivot Tchouameni, a resource in the emergency in the absence of the German, Militão and Alaba (the latter two, due to cruciate breaks).
Bellingham, author of a double against Míchel’s team, retired in the 57th minute with a very sore left ankle after two sprains, one in each half. Ancelotti reported at a press conference that he was suffering from a sprain, although he did not close the door on his participation in Leipzig. However, this Sunday it was learned that the decline will last for about three weeks. And he could have been worse, according to the club, since he was close to having a more serious injury, similar to that of Vinicius in 2019 against Ajax, a torn ligament in his right ankle that kept him out for two months.
This is the second physical mishap this season for the League top scorer (16 goals; 20 in total for the season) after the left shoulder problem at the beginning of November. A bad fall against Rayo at the Bernabéu, a clash that he completed, led him to miss the next two matches (Braga and Valencia, both at home and resolved with comfortable victories). His replacement those days was Brahim Díaz, on the rise since then after a start to the season in the shadows and with hardly any opportunities. The other three games of the year without Bellingham, Madrid also won (two against Las Palmas and against Arandina in the Cup).
The fall of Bellingham deepens the succession of physical misfortunes for Madrid this season, with three cruciate breaks (Courtois, Alaba and Militão), and the coincidence of losing this Saturday against Girona the only two healthy centre-backs left in the squad. the squad (Rüdiger and Nacho) after the mishaps of Alaba and Militão and not attending the winter market. The first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League, the classic European frontier for the whites each season, is faced without their top scorer and with only one healthy centre-back (Nacho). A medical condition that has forced the team to squeeze and that contrasts with the sporting health of a team that this Saturday had its best performance of the season against Girona (4-0).