At the Santiago Bernabéu, the rain is pouring and shows no sign of stopping after Real Madrid's tough defeat against Celta de Vigo (0-2). On Monday, the 'merengue' team's medical services confirmed the serious injury of Éder Militao, who only played 20 minutes against the Galicians due to a twinge in his left thigh.
The forecasts anticipated a serious injury for the defender, and it was finally confirmed that the 27-year-old player suffers from a hamstring tear, with involvement of the proximal tendon. For the Sao Paulo native, this is the third serious injury he has sustained since August 2023, when he tore his left ACL.
A year later, he suffered the same injury to his right knee, affecting both menisci. Despite being out for over a year, Militao managed to recover and was Real Madrid's best center-back at the start of the 25/26 season. However, a new injury has halted him again just as Los Blancos have most of their defenders in the infirmary.
How long will Éder Militao be out?
The forecasts for a thigh rupture of this nature point to an absence of approximately four months. That is to say, Éder Militao would only return in April to play the final stretch of the season and try to regain competitive rhythm with the World Cup in mind.
The Brazilian will miss almost the entire season, including the Copa del Rey (he would only play a hypothetical final) and the Spanish Super Cup, in addition to approximately 13 league matchdays and the last 3 matches of the Champions group stage, not counting a possible play-off for the round of 16 and the round of 16 and quarter-final ties
Militao accumulated **1,272 minutes of action in 16 matches (14 as a starter)** before getting injured against Celta. The '3' scored a goal in the victory against Espanyol (2-0) and provided an assist against Barcelona in the Clásico of Matchday 10 (2-1). Now, Xabi Alonso loses his best center-back, practically, for the rest of the season.
Real Madrid to play City with 7 injured defenders
And so, Real Madrid adds Éder Militao to the list of injured defenders, which already includes 7 players. Dean Huijsen, Dani Carvajal, Trent Alexander-Arnold, David Alaba, and Ferland Mendy will also be unavailable for matchday 6 of the Champions League, with the former being the closest to returning.
Huijsen is still experiencing discomfort in his left leg and, along with Camavinga, is almost certainly out for the match against Pep Guardiola's team. Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham, and Fede Valverde also left the game against Celta with physical discomfort, but they will be able to start on Wednesday.
Valverde will likely return to left-back against City, while Álvaro Carreras would be the left-sided defender. Asensio and Rüdiger would complete an improvised defense once again, where Fran García is, for now, the only available substitute. To make matters worse, Carreras and García will be out next Sunday against Alavés, after being sent off in league matchday 15