It’s a classic good news, bad news situation with Real Madrid in regards to the injury situation. Dani Ceballos will be out for potentially two months, with a left hamstring injury. Obviously, this is the bad news. For the positive development, Kylian Mbappe has resumed full training, after having missed both the Copa Del Rey and the last training session, due to dental surgery.
The loss of Ceballos truly hurts, to say the least. He’s featured 31 times and made 16 starts this season across all competitions.
Real Betis at Real Madrid FYIs
Kickoff: Sat. Mar. 1, 6:30pm, Benito Villamarin, Seville, Spain
Real Madrid Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Prediction
LL Position, Form: Real Madrid 2nd, 54 pts, WLDDW Real Betis 7th, 35 pts, WDLWW
Google Result Probability: Real Madrid 55% Draw 23% Real Betis 22%
Real Madrid Team News
Ceballos is a big part of what Carlo Ancelotti likes to do in the middle of the park, but at least the current timeline allows for a potential return in May. That’s when Los Blancos will be making their final push for silverware, having Ceballos back for that will be crucial.
As for Mbappe, well many people consider him the greatest player on the planet right now, so (and this is so obvious that it doesn’t even need to be said) having him back in the mix will be massive.
Elsewhere Jude Bellingham remains unavailable as he’ll serve the second of his two match ban here.
He was red-carded in the score draw with Osasuna. Finally, Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao are of course done for the season with cruciate ligament damage.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.