Madrid Faces Injury Woes Ahead of Champions League Clash
Madrid’s first defeat of the season came with a sting in the tail.
Beaten by Real Betis, they also watched Marc Cucurella limp out late on, a worrying sight with the Champions League about to begin. The Spaniard has only just nailed down the starting left-back role under Jose Mourinho, pushing Alvaro Carreras to the bench. Now his place for Europe is suddenly in doubt.
Mourinho moved quickly to calm the noise around the substitution. Speaking after the game, he insisted the change was driven by caution, not crisis.
“Carreras coming on for Cucurella due to cramps,” he told reporters, framing it as a fatigue issue rather than a serious injury.
The early diagnosis offers some relief. Even so, the clock is already ticking. Madrid face a tight turnaround before their midweek return to continental action, and the recent World Cup winner has little time to shake off the problem and prove his fitness.
The timing could hardly be worse for Mourinho.
His squad is already stretched. Aurelien Tchouameni, Eder Militao, Rodrygo, Ferland Mendy and Endrick are all in the treatment room, leaving gaps in every line of the team. Inside the club there is still optimism that Tchouameni or Rodrygo might make it back in time to be involved, but neither case is guaranteed.
The injury list is only half the story. Arda Guler, Bernardo Silva and Eduardo Camavinga are all suspended, stripping Mourinho of three more high-level options. Between injuries and bans, Madrid’s depth has been shredded just as the season’s first major European test arrives.
Upcoming Preparation
Preparation starts again on Sunday, when the players report back to the training ground with Inter Milan looming on Tuesday. What might have been a glamorous opening to the Champions League now carries a sharper edge. After their first domestic loss, Madrid cannot afford to stumble again, especially not against opposition with Inter’s European pedigree.
Cucurella’s status will dominate the build-up. Mourinho and his staff will track every step, every sprint, across the next sessions before deciding whether the left-back can start. If he does not make it, Carreras is primed to return to the XI and reclaim the spot he recently lost.
A bruised Madrid, a thinned squad, Inter on the horizon. Mourinho now has to find solutions quickly, or risk watching the season’s first real storm roll in before September has even settled.
