CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Why is Aurélien Tchouaméni on the bench for the Champions League final? Will he play against Dortmund?

Tchouaméni, David Alaba and Andriy Lunin have been named as substitutes for the game at Wembley despite recent fitness issues.

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Scottish sports journalist and content creator. After running his own soccer-related projects, in 2022 he joined Diario AS, where he mainly reports on the biggest news from around Europe’s leading soccer clubs, Liga MX and MLS, and covers live games in a not-too-serious tone. Likes to mix things up by dipping into the world of American sports.

Update: Jun 1st, 2024 12:48 EDT

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has sprung a surprise ahead of the 2023/24 Champions League final by naming Aurélien Tchouaméni on the bench for the game against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.

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What injury does Tchouaméni have?

The French midfielder hasn’t played since the second leg of the semi-final against Bayern Munich, when he was forced off after 70 minutes after suffering a foot injury. He has missed Los Blancos’ last four games as a result, and isn’t expected to feature in London despite being listed as a substituted.

Ancelotti confirmed earlier this week that the former Monaco star wouldn’t be available for the game, although he has done some light training as he works his way back to fitness.

📋✅ Our starting XI for the #UCLfinal!
🆚 @BlackYellow #APorLa15 pic.twitter.com/pzwZSkFdSk
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) June 1, 2024

Is David Alaba available to play against Dortmund?

David Alaba, who suffered an ACL tear in December and won’t play again until next season, has also been named on the bench despite also being unavailable for selection.

How many substitutes can teams name on the bench in the Champions League?

Every member of the Real Madrid travelling party to Wembley has been listed in the 23-man matchday squad, although Ancelotti will only have 21 players to choose from.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

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Teams are allowed to have 12 substitutes on the bench, but Los Blancos have opted to go with just 10.

That includes back-up goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who had been in contention to start before going down with flu earlier in the week. The Ukrainian only arrived in London on Saturday and joins Kepa on the bench, with regular first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois starting between the sticks.