Real Madrid head into their Champions League match against Manchester City with so many absences that the pregame report looks more like a medical update. The main point is obvious right away: besides losing half of their backline, Xabi Alonso’s team might also be without Mbappé, who skipped training because of a fractured finger and persistent muscle discomfort in his left leg. In a matchup that would already be tough at full strength, Madrid land at the Etihad weakened, under emotional pressure and limited in what they can do tactically.
The situation gets even more serious when you lay everything out. Militão, who could’ve offered some stability to a patched-up defense, is out for four months after tearing his biceps femoris with tendon damage. Alaba, Mendy, Carvajal and Huijsen are also sidelined. Alexander-Arnold, brought in to improve Madrid’s buildup play, suffered a rectus femoris injury and won’t return for at least two months. Camavinga, who should’ve been the team’s tactical wildcard, has been dealing with an ankle issue since the match against Athletic Bilbao. It’s hard to find one area of the squad that hasn’t been hit.
The weight of the absences
Valdepeñas, Joan Martínez and Cestero have been called up from the academy, and while that shows trust in the youth system, it also means Xabi Alonso will have to rethink everything, especially now that he arrives under pressure and walking a fine line. How do you survive something like this? The answer tends to be pragmatic: survive first, try to compete later.
Mbappé’s absence from Tuesday’s training session doesn’t guarantee he’ll miss the match, but it does flip on a warning light. He can decide a game even when he’s not fully fit. If he plays, he might not last 90 minutes. If he doesn’t, Madrid lose depth, lose speed and lose the kind of attacking presence that forces an opponent backward. And against Manchester City, that changes almost everything.
A match that tests more than tactics
The game against City won’t measure only Real Madrid’s technical level. It’ll measure maturity, adaptability and, above all, crisis management. Xabi Alonso is still a young coach, but he already knows that big clubs have weeks that tear apart any previous plan. And this is one of those.
Madrid arrive weak, patched together, dependent on the academy and possibly without one of their stars. But they also arrive aware that big teams don’t get to choose their moment. They play with what they have. And if they need to, they invent solutions in the middle of the storm. Whether that will be enough against City, no one can say.