Real Madrid duo miss final game of the year, 3 youngsters called up for Alaves

Excepting the news that David Alaba will miss the rest of the season, which is a rather bitter pill to ignore, the injury news coming out of Valdebebas over the past week has been largely positive.

On Sunday evening Aurelien Tchouameni returned ahead of time from his broken metatarsal against Villarreal – just in time to fill in for Alaba in defence in the second half – while Vinicius Junior is reportedly nearing a comeback too. The other two injury issues that could have seen an early comeback were Ferland Mendy and Dani Carvajal. The former came off with a knock against Villarreal for Fran Garcia, but will not be brought back for their trip to Alaves on Thursday.

Carvajal suffered a muscle strain during their 2-0 win over Granada two-and-a-half weeks prior, and was reported as out until 2024, but is close to a recovery too. Yet according to Diario AS, he will join Mendy on the sidelines for their battle in the Basque Country.

That has been confirmed after Real Madrid announced their squad on Wednesday afternoon, with neither of Mendy or Carvajal included. Youngsters Nico Paz, Vinicius Tobias and Gonzalo Garcia Torres have been included to give Los Blancos extra depth.

It makes sense for Carlo Ancelotti to proceed with caution. Given the manner that Los Blancos have been dismissing opponents of late, they will feel Lucas Vazquez and Garcia are perfectly capable of fulfilling their roles on Thursday evening. The extra break should give both extra time to recover fully, with a derby clash against Atletico Madrid on the horizon on the 10th of January to consider too.