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A bitter defeat against FC Bayern: Bad news for Real Madrid

Real Madrid will be without more than just Aurelien Tchouameni as they attempt to overturn their Champions League deficit against Bayern Munich.

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Real Madrid’s official match squad confirms that manager Álvaro Arbeloa will be without centre-back Raúl Asencio, in addition to the suspended midfielder and injured goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

According to The Athletic, the 23-year-old is suffering from stomach problems and dizziness, and there is a suspicion of gastroenteritis, which ruled him out of the trip to Munich. However, his absence is less critical than those of Tchouameni and Courtois.

Despite briefly establishing himself as a regular centre-back over the season, the young academy graduate still finds himself behind first-choice pair Antonio Rüdiger and Dean Huijsen, who started the recent Champions League knockout ties.
Nevertheless, the manager still lacks a vital option should either centre-back suffer injury or an early booking. The return of Eder Militao, sidelined for four months with a muscle tear, provides extra cover.
The Brazilian international marked his return with a goal against RCD Mallorca as a substitute and then played just over an hour in the quarter-final first leg against the German record champions. In last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Girona, Militao started alongside Asencio while Huijsen and Rüdiger were rested ahead of Wednesday’s return leg in Munich.

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Real Madrid face a trophy-less season with a complete overhaul – and a return for Kroos?
At the Allianz Arena, Los Blancos must overturn a 1-2 first-leg deficit. Arbeloa sees the task as entirely feasible. “If there’s one club that can win in Munich, it’s Real Madrid,” declared the embattled manager, who had recently replaced the sacked Xabi Alonso. He insisted that his side should have won the first leg at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
In his view, Los Blancos should already have wrapped up the tie at the Bernabéu: “We created plenty of chances and hardly let Bayern have any. Now we travel to Germany fully convinced we can win, and if needs be, we’ll give our all until the end.”
An early exit in the quarter-finals could indeed spell the end of Arbeloa’s tenure as Real coach. In LaLiga, the title race is virtually over with the team nine points behind FC Barcelona and just seven games remaining; in the Copa del Rey, the Royals were knocked out in their first match under Arbeloa’s leadership against second-tier side Albacete. The Supercopa final loss to Barça had already brought Alonso’s brief tenure to a close.
A last-eight exit would thus have far-reaching consequences not only for Arbeloa but also for the club’s broader structure. President Florentino Pérez’s long-held credo that Real can succeed without a sporting director may finally be discarded if the season ends trophy-less.
Spanish newspaper AS reports that Toni Kroos is set to be integrated into the club’s sporting structure from next summer, with the 36-year-old potentially taking on a role similar to that of a sporting director.