After suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear during Real Madrid's 4-0 La Liga victory over Osasuna on Saturday, defender Eder Militao will have surgery and will be sidelined for several months for the second straight season, according to the La Liga team.
The Brazil center defender was crying as he was assisted off the field after hyperextending his knee while attempting to grab an offensive rebound shortly into the match. Following full back Dani Carvajal, the 26-year-old Militao becomes the second Real Madrid star to sustain an ACL injury this season.
A statement from Real Madrid said that, “Following tests carried out today on our player Eder Militao by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament with involvement of both menisci in his right leg. Militao will undergo surgery in the coming days.”
“We will see in January what happens” : Carlo Ancelotti
As injuries keep afflicting the La Liga and UEFA Champions League winners, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti announced on Saturday that he will have to turn to the team's young academy youngsters to fill in. Together with Militao, forward Rodrygo and full back Lucas Vazques were added to Real Madrid's long list of injuries on Saturday. Ancelotti stated that he will search inside the team for answers until the January transfer window opens.
Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media after the game as he said, “I’m not thinking about signings right now because we have to prepare for games with the players we have. Three injuries in the first half is quite rare. The demanding schedule doesn’t allow the players to rest and be fresh.We will evaluate the situation in the coming months, the only thing we can do is try to recover as many players as possible. We will see in January what happens.”
The former Bayern Munich manager added, “Today (academy defender) Raul Asencio came off the bench and made a good contribution, (midfielder) Federico Valverde played fine as a full back... We did well last year when we had injuries and we will do the same this year as well.”