Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham sustained an injury during training, Real manager Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday.
The 21-year-old England international was a key player last season when Real won the Champions League and Laliga titles.
“Bellingham had a blow, he is being assessed,” Ancelotti told a press conference when asked whether Bellingham would be available for Sunday’s LaLiga clash against Real Valladolid.
Ancelotti, who usually talks to the media one day before each Real game, decided to change the schedule so he could hold his final training session behind closed doors at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Ancelotti said his unusual move had nothing to do with Real’s drab performance in a 1-1 draw at Mallorca last weekend which left the usually calm and collected Ancelotti fuming at his players’ effort.
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“It’s nothing special, I’m doing it just to test the pitch, because it has changed compared to last year. I want the players to try the new pitch to see how they feel there. There is nothing superstitious or anything else behind it,” Ancelotti said.
The Italian insisted, however, that he needs a better performance in order to play with four attacking players in Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo and Bellingham up front and only two conventional midfielders.
“It was a pretty clear game to evaluate, we lacked balance, it’s not very complicated. There is a clear solution,” Ancelotti said.
“With such an attacking team, the forwards have to work a bit harder. We have tried to fix it with a lot of work this week.”
Ancelotti expects a warm welcome by Real’s fans for Mbappe’s home debut which is expected to be sold out.
“It’s going to be a beautiful day for Mbappe, playing for the first time at the Bernabeu wearing Real’s jersey... The fans are going to enjoy it a lot, I’m sure of that,” Ancelotti said.
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