Ancelotti confirms injury to key player during Chelsea win

Ancelotti confirms injury to key player during Chelsea win

Ayoola Kelechi 23:59 - 18.04.2023

Real Madrid could be without their star player for a few weeks after he suffered a knock against Chelsea

Real Madrid’s victory over Chelsea in their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal clash has apparently come at a cost after Los Blancos coach Carlo Ancelotti confirmed that defender David Alaba had a serious injury set back during the game at Stamford Bridge. 

Real Madrid leave Stamford Bridge with victory and some casualties

Real Madrid played a superb game against the Blues to secure a 2-0 away win and a 4-0 aggregate scoreline against Chelsea, but according to Ancelotti, two players suffered knocks during the second-leg fixture, with Alaba’s being the more serious one.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ng/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

The Austrian defender was taken off after the first half and replaced by Antonio Rudiger, who faced his old club and did well to marshal the defence to a second consecutive clean sheet against the Blues. 

It is believed that Alaba suffered a tight hamstring forcing Ancelotti into an early change, and it is currently uncertain how bad the injury is or how long the Austrian will be sidelined for, although his Italian manager painted a grim picture of the injury compared to the one suffered by Benxema. 

Ancelotti wary of Alaba injury

Speaking after the win over Chelsea, Ancelotti said, “Alaba has had a problem, his hamstring was tight and we had made the change at the end of the first half. Karim had a blow, a stomp on his foot, it started to bother him at the end and we changed him.”

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ng/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

With Real Madrid entering the most important stages of the UEFA Champions League as well as having a Copa del Rey final against Osasuna to play, they will be hoping that Alaba is able to play sooner rather than later. 

Real Madrid could face either Bayern Munich, Alaba’s former club, or Manchester City, who currently employ Alaba’s former head coach Pep Guardiola, and Los Blancos are counting on his experience and knowledge about these two teams to help them navigate what is expected to be a tricky semifinal tie. 

Related content