Real Madrid star set to undergo surgery and miss rest of the season as club release statement on extent of injury picked up in 4-0 win over Osasuna

Real Madrid have released a statement addressing centre-back Éder Militão's injury in their La Liga clash against Osasuna on Saturday. The match ended in a 4-0 win, with Vinicius Junior scoring a hat-trick and Jude Bellingham scoring his first goal of the season for Los Blancos at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

Militão went down with an injury and had to be stretchered off the pitch. Carlo Ancelotti replaced him with academy graduate Raúl Asencio in the 30th minute.

Following the match against Osasuna, the tests conducted on Militão revealed that the 26-year-old had torn his anterior cruciate ligament in his right leg and will undergo surgery soon. The club statement read (translated from Spanish):

"Following tests carried out today on our player Eder Militão by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament with involvement of both menisci in his right leg. Militão will undergo surgery in the coming days."

While Real Madrid's statement about Militão's injury did not specify an estimated return date, journalist Fabrizio Romano reported that the defender is expected to be out for at least nine months.

In August 2023, Éder Militão ruptured his left anterior cruciate ligament against Athletic Club and missed 45 games for club and country. He has helped Los Blancos maintain six clean sheets in 17 appearances across competitions this season.

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Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti on injuries in his squad

While Real Madrid bagged a 4-0 win against Osasuna, head coach Carlo Ancelotti was left with two other injuries other than Éder Militão's to worry about. Rodrygo sustained an injury, and Brahim Diaz replaced him just 20 minutes into the match. Lucas Vázquez was substituted at halftime after he picked up a knock, and Luka Modric replaced him.

These three casualties added to Real Madrid's existing injury list this season, which includes Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Carvajal, David Alaba and Thibaut Courtois.

On Saturday, Ancelotti addressed these injuries. The Italian manager said (via Forbes):

"The demands of this calendar do not allow the players to rest enough, they arrive with less rest to the matches. It's a general problem, not just ours."

When asked if the Spanish club will be making new signings in the upcoming transfer window, especially while having multiple injured players, or will be depending on their academy or reserve team players, Ancelotti said:

"We'll evaluate it in the coming months. The only thing we can do is recover as many players as possible. In January, we will see. I don't think about signings because we have to prepare games with the ones we have. Today Raul Asencio gave a good contribution. We did well last year and we'll do well this year."

Real Madrid face CD Leganés next in La Liga on Nov. 24, followed by a game against Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League on Nov. 27. It remains to be seen how Carlo Ancelotti sets up the lineup with respect to the existing injuries in his squad.