Real Madrid: Jesús Vallejo will make a timely return with Sergio Ramos injured
By Ben Sundock
Real Madrid has been hampered on the back line, to say the least. The usual starting four, Marcelo, Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, and Ramos have all picked up injuries within the last month or so. However, Jesús Vallejo, who has missed every match since the preseason, could finally make his return to the lineup.
Los Blancos received some pretty good news and some really bad news in the middle of the November international break.
With so many of the regular starters out of action with injuries, the break proved to be very useful for the team trying to gain ground on FC Barcelona in the La Liga title race.
Manager Santiago Solari has struggled to field a back four in half of the matches he has been in charge, but, things are about to get a little bit easier for him thanks to the good work from the Real Madrid medical staff at the Valadebebas.
Marcelo, Carvajal, and Varane have all returned to regular training with the first-team alongside Mariano Diaz and young defender Jesús Vallejo.
The bad news is that captain Sergio Ramos could be sidelined for some time after suffering a groin injury in the 3-2 loss to Croatia late last week. The center back played the full 90 minutes, and even managed to score on a penalty kick to tie the match at 2-2, but was dropped from the team following the match.
Ramos returned to Madrid and missed out on Spain’s 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday in order to get the rehab process underway.
It is great news that Vallejo will be fit enough to be put in the team to face Eibar on the 24th since Ramos is out, but even better considering Nacho Fernandez and Sergio Reguilon will be out two months and two weeks, respectively.
Furthermore, Vallejo has not featured in a competitive match for Real since May 9th against Sevilla due to serious muscular issues in his legs.
According to Marca, he has suffered six injuries total in his career with five of those coming due to muscular problems.
It is truly shocking to see such a young player hampered by injuries for this amount of time and so frequently, but Vallejo could turn everything around with a solid stint the next month and a half.
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Real Madrid will travel to Eibar to face the struggling small club who currently sits in 13th in the league, winning just four out of their first 12 matches.
Coming off of the international break has given the majority of the players some time to rest as well as work closely with Solari without the pressure of matches taking place every three days.
This should be a very exciting stretch leading up to the end of the year as Real Madrid will take part in four different competitions – La Liga, Champions League, Copa Del Rey, and the FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.