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Jude Bellingham has emerged as an injury doubt for Real Madrid’s clash with Real Valladolid after sustaining a knock in training.
Carlo Ancelotti confirmed on Friday that the midfielder was being assessed ahead of his side’s second La Liga fixture.
The 21-year-old helped the Spanish capital club to domestic and Champions League triumphs in his first season in Madrid.
An enviable array of forward options had failed to fire against Mallorca on Monday with Bellingham again deployed in a deeper role behind Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo.
Left-back Ferland Mendy was dimissed in stoppage time of the 1-1 draw as Ancelotti’s side suffered an early set-back in their pursuit of another league title.
Ancelotti, who usually talks to the media a day before each Real game, decided to change the schedule so he could hold his final training session behind closed doors at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Ancelotti said his unusual move had nothing to do with Real’s drab performance at Mallorca which left the usually calm and collected Ancelotti fuming at his players’ effort.
“It’s nothing special, I’m doing it just to test the pitch, because it has changed compared to last year. I want the players to try the new pitch to see how they feel there. There is nothing superstitious or anything else behind it,” Ancelotti said.
The Italian insisted, however, that he needs a better performance in order to play with four attacking players in Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo and Bellingham up front and only two conventional midfielders.
“It was a pretty clear game to evaluate, we lacked balance, it’s not very complicated. There is a clear solution,” Ancelotti said.
“With such an attacking team, the forwards have to work a bit harder. We have tried to fix it with a lot of work this week.”
The encounter with Valladolid will mark Mbappe’s home debut for the club after a summer switch from Paris Saint-Germain, and Ancelotti expects a strong reception for the Frenchman.
“It’s going to be a beautiful day for Mbappe, playing for the first time at the Bernabeu wearing Real’s jersey,” the veteran manager said. “The fans are going to enjoy it a lot, I’m sure of that,”
Additional reporting by Reuters
