Real Madrid have more injury headaches to worry about heading into the La Liga Matchday 36 showdown against Granada. On Sunday night after the match against Sevilla, which Real drew 2-2, right back Alvaro Odriozola seemed to be suffering from some pain in his thigh.
Although there was optimism yesterday that he would be fine for the match at Los Carmenes, there are conflicting reports regarding his status. And his status matters a lot, since he is the only available right back in the squad with Lucas Vazquez and Dani Carvajal both out for the season. On top of that, Zinedine Zidane cannot slide Nacho Fernandez over to right back without starting either Victor Chust or Pablo Ramon.
COPE’s Miguel Angel Diaz states that Alvaro Odriozola is suffering from a muscular overload in his left thigh and is “almost ruled out” for Real Madrid at Granada.
That seems to cast a dire outlook on Odri’s chances of playing and would necessitate either Fede Valverde or Marvin Park starting, per the COPE reporter.
But Alvaro Odriozola is reportedly ‘confident’ he can play for Real Madrid against Granada this Thursday
However, El Golazo de Gol’s Sergio Quirante has a more optimistic report regarding Odriozola’s status for Matchday 36. He tweets that while Odriozola has an overload, the player himself is “confident” he will be able to play against Granada.
It sounds like Odriozola is truly questionable to suit up for Real Madrid this week, and we will have to take his status day by day.
Odriozola has been an issue on the right-hand side for Real this season, which is why Zidane didn’t even trust him against Liverpool and started center midfielder Valverde against Sadio Mane. But Odri is not a bad player and showed glimpses of his quality against Sevilla. He did not get caught out defensively and was seriously unlucky not to have an assist for Karim Benzema.
Let’s hope Odriozola can recover well and be available for Real Madrid against Granada. A match at Los Carmenes is tough.