Real Madrid’s squad for their upcoming Club World Cup semi-final has been confirmed, but manager Carlo Ancelotti will have to deal with the absence of a couple of key men.
Europe’s reigning champions take on Egyptian side Al Ahly in the semi-finals of the competition on Wednesday – which pits the winners of the six continental confederations against one another – with a date against Flamengo or Al Hilal set for Saturday night if Real emerge victorious.
However, Ancelotti’s squad won’t be at maximum capacity for the trip to Morocco, with a number of players failing to make the trip to Morocco
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Forward Karim Benzema have not traveled with the squad, and neither have Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy, Eden Hazard or Lucas Vazquez.
Benzema picked up a leg injury in the recent 2-0 win over Valencia while Courtois is struggling with a groin strain picked up at the weekend. There is hope, however, that both could return to the fold should Real Madrid reach the final.
In Courtois absence, Los Blancos are likely to line up with 23-year-old Andrey Lunin in goal, and minutes may be afforded to sparingly used Mariano Diaz up front amid huge fixture congestion which was caused by the recent winter World Cup in Qatar.
Indeed, the Club World Cup has been pushed back to February this year because there’s been no other time available in the calendar, and it starts at a time were the champions have suffered a major setback in their hopes of retaining La Liga.
A shock 1-0 defeat to Mallorca at the weekend has left Real trailing bitter rivals Barcelona by eight points – the loss was Los Blancos’ second defeat in their last five league outings.
Real will also resume their Champions League campaign – where they are the holders – in a few weeks time. They will come up against old foes Liverpool in a two-legged round of 16 clash.
