Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is growing increasingly frustrated with the club’s medical staff, according to Relevo.
Los Blancos have been beset by fitness issues this season, which is to a certain extent normal after an exhausting campaign last year, and the strange timing of the World Cup this year, combined with an aging squad. In some instances, Ancelotti feels that the medical staff could have handled injuries better.
The Club World Cup was the latest incident that Ancelotti was displeased with, although he is on good personal terms with the medical department. Recovering from injury in Madrid initially, Eder Militao then travelled out to Morocco for the final against Al Hilal. Ancelotti still did not have the all clear that Militao would be fit on the morning of the game though.
Meanwhile Toni Kroos returned from Morocco with stomach issues, something put down to the water there. Although players were not drinking it, they feel a bug may have got into his system through the water system.
He was laid low for two games, and began exercising again on Sunday, but the medical staff stopped him there. Kroos and Ancelotti agreed that he could test himself on the day of the Liverpool game, and managed to be passed fit, hence why he was originally left out of the squad, before coming on as a substitute.
These issues are smaller anecdotes from the growing irritation of the coaching staff, but larger cases like Thibaut Courtois and Karim Benzema have been more damaging. On multiple occasions, Benzema has relapsed from muscle problems, while Courtois’ diagnosis was inaccurate on numerous occasions.
Aurelien Tchouameni and David Alaba have also relapsed from muscle issues this season, and as Los Blancos enter a critical stage of the season, they will be relying on having most of their starting XI fit. It could well decide Ancelotti’s future at Real Madrid.