Real Madrid will be hanging on for confirmation on what forced Jude Bellingham to leave their penultimate training session before their derby clash with Atletico Madrid.
Los Blancos are already set to be without Dani Carvajal, Vinicius Junior, Arda Guler, Eder Militao and Thibaut Courtois for their meeting on Sunday night, but Diario AS report that Bellingham left training early.
They say the medical staff are still confident that he will be present for their final training session and the match against Atletico, after he left clutching his stomach. It is not yet clear whether he suffered an injury to his stomach, or whether he has fallen ill.
It would not be the first time that Real Madrid leak an optimistic pre-diagnosis of injury or illness, only for it to then stretch out into a larger issue. However if it were to be illness, there is a good chance that Bellingham recovers in time for Atletico Madrid.
Bellingham’s absence would be a major problem for Carlo Ancelotti. Having scored 6 and assisted one of their 11 goals this season, the Italian’s decision to build his attack around Bellingham has been fruitful, but it would leave him short of resources against Atletico. Rodrygo Goes and Joselu Mato would likely start, and if Ancelotti wants to keep the system more or less the same, he may turn to one of Brahim Diaz or Luka Modric to replace Bellingham, should it be necessary.
