Hopes of Dani Carvajal’s return take hit as Real Madrid prepare for Villarreal

Real Madrid were back in training on Wednesday as they looked to up the ante, following their narrow victory over Cacereno in the Copa del Rey. On Saturday, they face Villarreal at Estadio de la Ceramica, a ground they have failed to win in on their last four visits.

There are two major injury questions marks ahead of that match. On Monday, ahead of their Copa del Rey tie, Carlo Ancelotti told the press that both Thibaut Courtois and Dani Carvajal were nursing minor injuries, but that he expected both to make Saturday’s game.

Diario AS say that Courtois returned to training on Wednesday, taking full part in training with the other goalkeepers. This will be encouraging news for Los Blancos, given he missed a significant chunk of the first part of the season with a seemingly innocuous problem.

However Carvajal was absent from the session, leaving him just two opportunities to prove his fitness ahead of the game. The veteran right-back has also struggled on and off with injury in recent seasons.

Likely replacements should he be absent would be Eder Militao or Lucas Vazquez. The Brazilian put in solid performances there for his national side at the World Cup, while Vazquez has been the de facto back up for the best part of a decade at the Santiago Bernabeu.