Real Madrid confirmed an injury to one of its key starting players on Thursday afternoon in Spain, just over three weeks out from the Champions League final.
“Following the tests carried out today on our player Aurelien Tchouameni by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a stress injury to his left foot,” the club stated, adding the standard phrase “pending evolution” at the end of its correspondence.
Tchouameni started Wednesday evening’s dramatic Champions League semifinal second leg against Bayern Munich after head coach Carlo Ancelotti resolved a major doubt for the tie’s starting XI.
The Italian was unsure of whether to put the Frenchman in his natural midfield berth or in central defence.
As things turned out, however, Tchouameni started in a double pivot with Toni Kroos as captain Nacho got the nod alongside Antonio Rudiger on the back line.
Madrid managed to keep a clean sheet for well over an hour, but Tchouameni unfortunately had to come off shortly after Alphonso Davies stunned Los Blancos with a top corner rocket to put the Bavarians 1-0 ahead and 3-2 up on aggregate.
Tchouameni was upset because he had been playing well. With pain in his foot, however, he had to be brought off for a figure in Eduardo Camavinga initially dropped because of Ancelotti’s formation decision.
This meant that Tchouameni played no part in the eventual 2-1 comeback, which booked a place in the Wembley final against Bayern’s domestic rivals Borussia Dortmund, and there has been further potentially bad news regarding that June 1 fixture.
As MARCA explains, Tchouameni has a niggle in the same left foot which was fractured last October and meant he missed a total of 11 games.
According to the newspaper’s anonymous club sources, however, there is currently no risk of him having to sit out the match which Madrid could end as European champions for a record-extending 15th time.
By the time that club season curtain closer rolls round, Eder Militao could be fit enough to start showdowns of such magnitude leaving Ancelotti with a decision to make on who partners Rudiger between the Brazilian and Nacho.
In midfield, it could then be a coin toss among Tchouameni and Camavinga, without even considering five-time UCL winner Luka Modric.
