real Madrid visit RB Leipzig for the first match of the Champions League round of 16. The match will be played at 5pm at the Red Bull Arena in the German city, with television broadcast on ESPN.
The “merengue” team, solid leaders of the Spanish championship after Saturday’s crushing 4-0 victory against the Girona guard, will find themselves faced with an unexpected defeat with the injury of one of their greatest figures, the midfielder English Jude Bellingham, who does not even travel to Leipzig due to a serious sprain of his left ankle.
Bellingham’s absence adds to those of defenders Nacho, Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao and David Alaba, all with various problems that will force coach Carlo Ancelotti to improvise.
In this way, the Italian coach will aim to reiterate the unprecedented pair of central defenders he displayed in the duel against Girona, composed of Carvajal and Aurelien Tchouameni.
“I won’t believe he’s outside (Bellingham) of the stadium until I see him,” allowed himself to doubt Marco Rose, RB Leipzig coach, who knows the potential of the goalscoring midfielder, having had him under his guidance at Borussia Dortmund once.
Rose himself will have to put together a different set-up than the one he had in mind, after the injury that struck Amadou Haidara, defensive midfielder of the German team.
Source: Clarin
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