Actual Madrid have an excellent night on Wednesday as they dispatched of Manchester Metropolis to ebook their place within the final 16 of the Champions League. Nevertheless, it was not an ideal match for Carlo Ancelotti’s aspect as a yellow card picked up by Jude Bellingham within the first half means that he’s suspended for the primary leg of the following spherical.
Bellingham’s absence for the primary leg of Actual Madrid’s final 16 tie, which will likely be towards Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen, is a giant blow, provided that he has been one of the decisive gamers in Europe during the last 18 months. It signifies that Ancelotti should determine a substitute, and he does have choices.
Brahim Diaz is the favorite, whereas Arda Guler has an outdoor likelihood. Ancelotti might additionally choose to go a unique route and play with an additional defensive-minded midfielder – and if he does this, Eduardo Camavinga can be a number one candidate to get the nod to play alongside Dani Ceballos and Aurelien Tchouameni.
Nevertheless, Camavinga himself was additionally near being dominated out of the primary leg due to suspension. Within the dying levels of the match towards Man Metropolis, the French midfielder lunged in on Omar Marmoush, committing a foul within the course of. Whereas he was not punished by referee Istvan Kovacs, he didn’t escape the wrath of a number of of his Actual Madrid teammates, together with Vinicius Junior and Andriy Lunin.
A fan video, relayed by Marca, from the Santiago Bernabeu captured the second that Camavinga was approached by Vinicius and Lunin after the complete time whistle, and the pair had been visibly sad with their teammate.
💥 La bronca de Vinicius a Camavinga tras el pitido closing: al brasileño no le había gustado que el francés, que estaba apercibido, se la jugara con algunas entradas arriesgadas con el partido ya sentenciado
📹 @jdelriomuradas #UCL #ChampionsLeague https://t.co/8LmWZhpo8u pic.twitter.com/QjrD85iBim
— MARCA (@marca) February 20, 2025
It’s maybe clear that Camavinga can rely himself fortunate that he was not yellow-carded for the foul on Marmoush, and in consequence, that he’s obtainable for the primary leg of Actual Madrid’s final 16 tie.