Eduardo Camavinga ruled out as eight Real Madrid stars set to miss mammoth Manchester City battle | OneFootball

Real Madrid could miss upto eight first-team players when they face Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday evening.

Madrid sit in fifth place in the group-phase standings, two points ahead of Manchester City in ninth place as the European giants face off in a fixture that has become a hallmark game of the competition during Pep Guardiola’s tenure at the Etihad Stadium.

City have regularly come up against the Spanish giants – by far and away the most successful team in UEFA Champions League history – since 2020 and have witnessed mixed fortunes either side of their premier title win in 2023, when City put Real Madrid to the sword in the semi-final and went on to beat Inter Milan in the final in Istanbul.

The Blues are in a rich vein of form domestically but a shock 2-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen last time out in Europe, when Pep Guardiola made a shocking 10 changes to his starting XI, has added impetus on City’s upcoming fixture with Real Madrid.

Madrid got the better of Manchester City in last season’s competition, beating Guardiola’s side home and away in the Round of 16 stage to enter the quarter-final with a comfortable 6-2 aggregate scoreline, with Kylian Mbappe notably netting a brilliant treble in the return leg in the Spanish capital.

City are missing Ballon d’Or winning star Rodri, Mateo Kovacic and John Stones with injury, with the trio expected to remain out of contention for Wednesday’s all-stars clash in Madrid, though Guardiola will issue a concrete, wider update on his side’s fitness in a press conference on Tuesday evening.

Fitness is much greater a concern for Alonso and Madrid, who are missing a host of key names from their first-team ranks ahead of one of their most important games of the season, with all eyes expected to be on the Santiago Bernabeu in this week’s round of UEFA Champions League games.

Eder Militao is dealing with a hamstring injury, Trent Alexander-Arnold is set for a spell on the sidelines till February 2026 as he recovers from a thigh issue and Dean Huijsen is also a doubt for the clash owing to a muscle injury.

Dani Carvajal recently underwent surgery to treat a knee problem and is not expected to be back playing anytime soon, with David Alaba also a doubt to face Manchester City as he makes his back to fitness from a muscle injury of his own – having missed his side’s 2-0 La Liga defeat to Celta Vigo on Sunday.

Ferland Mendy has just played once for Real Madrid this term amid recurring fitness setbacks and it remains to be seen when Alonso can call upon the 30-year-old Frenchman as the Spanish giants embark upon a testing festive schedule that can have major repercussions on their domestic and European title prospects come the end of the season.

Kylian Mbappe is understood to be dealing with muscle discomfort in his left leg and having missed Real Madrid’s open training session on Tuesday, the 26-year-old forward is a serious doubt to face Manchester City, as reported by Arancha Rodríguez.

Eduardo Camavinga was also absent from open training in Madrid owing to an ankle injury, as confirmed by Fabrice Hawkins, which has ruled Frenchman out of facing City, who will be looking to take full advantage of the La Liga outfit’s dire fitness situation on Wednesday.

Manchester City cannot afford back-to-back losses in the UEFA Champions League group-stage and while Guardiola and co will play to win and take advantage of their recent impressive Premier League form, a draw is never a bad result against any Real Madrid side.