REAL MADRID
Jude Bellingham will be out for a month: Which games will he miss?
Carlo Ancelotti revealed Real Madrid star Bellingham had “taken a knock” in training two days before the LaLiga game against Valladolid at the Bernabéu.
Kylian Mbappé will make his home debut for Real Madrid against Real Valladolid at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday (August 25), although he won’t be joined on the field by fellow attacking superstar Jude Bellingham.
Why won’t Bellingham play for Real Madrid against Valladolid?
In his pre-match press conference before the game, head coach Carlo Ancelotti was asked about why the Englishman hadn’t finished Friday’s training session in Valdebabes. The Italian revealed Bellingham had “taken a blow” and was having tests done to asses the extent of the damage.
Ancelotti didn’t expand on that during the press conference, but Real Madrid later posted on their website that the 21-year-old had suffered a plantaris muscle (a long, thin muscle which runs down the back of the leg) injury in his right leg and that he would continue to be assessed.
When will Bellingham be back? How many games will he miss?
Soon after, however, The Athletic reported Bellingham would be out of action for a month as a result of the injury. That means his next appearance at club level with almost certainly come after the September international break.
After hosting Valladolid on Sunday, Los Blancos travel to Las Palmas (Thursday, August 29), are at home to Real Betis (Sunday, September 1) and then visit Real Sociedad (weekend of September 15).
Assuming the initial prognosis is correct, Bellingham’s return would come after that, which means his targets are likely to the home game against Espanyol on the weekend of September 22 (best-case scenario), the fixture against Alavés at the Bernabéu the following midweek, or the Madrid derby away to Atlético Madrid on the weekend of September 29.
He will also sit out the first match of the new Champions League league phase, which will be played on September 17, 18 or 19. The draw will take place on August 29.
As a result, Bellingham looks certain to miss five games (four in LaLiga, one in the Champions League), although it wouldn’t be a surprise if it ends up being six.
Real Madrid’s BMV, or 4G?
The former Dortmund player’s absence would prevent us from getting our first Bernabéu glimpse of Bellingham, Mbappé and Vinícius, which the Spanish press has christened the ‘BMV’ (which is how ‘BMW’ is referred to in Spanish). Others, however, have also included Rodrygo a part of Real Madrid’s 4G, with the ‘G’ representing anything from ‘geniuses’ to ‘goalscorers’.