Rodrygo return boosts injury-hit Real Madrid

Carlo Ancelotti confirmed Brazil winger Rodrygo will return to action for Real Madrid this weekend in their LaLiga encounter against Getafe on Sunday.

Rodrygo has missed the last two games after sustaining a muscle injury in Madrid’s win over Osasuna at the Santiago Bernabeu earlier this month.

It provides a welcome boost for Los Blancos, who are still licking their wounds from their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League in midweek.

That loss also came with an injury to midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, who joins David Alaba, Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Vinicius Junior and Aurelien Tchouameni on the sidelines.

“Rodrygo will be back tomorrow, Tchouameni will be back next game and Camavinga will be back soon,” Ancelotti told reporters on Saturday.

@RodrygoGoes
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Ancelotti’s side entered the weekend second in the LaLiga table, four points behind rivals Barcelona, but have the comfort of an extra game in hand.

They welcome Getafe to the Bernabeu and have confidence in closing the gap at the summit, having won 18 of their last 21 games against Geta Azulones in LaLiga (D2 L1), scoring a total of 51 goals.

“In many years of my career, only one year has been quite easy: last year,” Ancelotti added. “All the other years I have had to solve problems. Sooner or later, the problems come.

“It is impossible to think of a season like last year when everything went perfectly.

“It’s better to find the problem in November or December than in April or May. Now the problem can be solved and, as I said, we are going to solve it.

“We are fighting for the league against a rival that is doing very well. The [Club] World Cup is coming, the Super Cup … and above all the injured players are coming back.

“We have to endure the moment with a good attitude and commitment because the good things are yet to come.”

The Italian continued to back 25-year-old France forward Kylian Mbappe, who had another subdued performance in Madrid’s loss to Liverpool as he failed to trouble the Premier League club’s defence and missed a penalty in the second half.

The Frenchman had ended a four-game run without a goal in all competitions in their last LaLiga match, netting the opener against Leganes, but managed just two shots during the trip to Anfield, with his saved penalty the only effort on target.

“He’s aware that he has to do better, but he and everyone. We have to keep supporting him and think that it’s a collective problem but not an individual one,” Ancelotti said.

“The team’s dynamic in LaLiga has improved a lot in the last two games, we have to bear in mind that we are missing a lot of players. Rodrygo returns tomorrow and we must be patient.”