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In what will come as music to the ears of Real Madrid faithful, two of their players, Thibaut Courtois and Dani Ceballos, reportedly returned to partial training on Sunday (April 6), providing them a huge boost ahead of the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal with Arsenal.
After dropping points to Valencia in LaLiga on Saturday, Carlo Ancelotti’s men will now turn their focus to retaining their European crown.
Courtois, who has continued to become Real Madrid No. 1, picked up a muscle injury during the warm-up ahead of Belgium’s second leg clash with Ukraine in the Nations League over the last international break.
In the same vein, Ceballos has been out of action for almost two months after sustaining a hamstring injury in Los Blancos’s first leg Copa del Rey semi-final clash with Real Sociedad in February.
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After second-choice goalkeeper Andriy Lunin was ruled out of the clash with Valencia due to a muscle problem, Real Madrid were forced to bring in their reserve team goalkeeper Fran Gonzalez for the clash.
Ahead of the Champions League clash with Arsenal on Tuesday, Mundo Deportivo reported that Thibaut Courtois and Dani Ceballos complete a portion of the group training. It added that manager Carlo Ancelotti has started to assess their readiness for the trip to London.
Carlo Ancelotti unveils Real Madrid’s squad to face Arsenal in the Champions League
Amid reports of Thibaut Courtois returning to partial training at Valdebebas, Carlo Ancelotti has named his squad for the Champions League quarterfinal first leg clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
While Courtois and Ceballos were said to be seen training with the rest of the squad, only the former made it to the trip to London. The latter is among six key players that were ruled out for Tuesday’s clash. The other players include Aurelien Tchouameni, Ferland Mendy, Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, and Andriy Lunin.
Ancelotti announced his squad against the Gunners in a statement published on the club’s official website on Sunday (April 6).
Real Madrid squad to face Arsenal:
Goalkeepers: Courtois, Fran González and Sergio Mestre.
Defenders: Alaba, Lucas V., Vallejo, Fran García, Rüdiger, Asencio, Jacobo and Lorenzo.
Midfielders: Bellingham, Camavinga, Valverde, Modrić, Arda Güler and Chema.
Forwards: Vini Jr., Mbappé, Rodrygo, Endrick, Brahim and Gonzalo.
Arsenal and Real Madrid have only faced each other once in the Champions League. The two sides clashed in the quarterfinal of the 2005/06 edition, and it was the Gunners who progressed to the next on a 1-0 aggregate win stage, thanks to Thierry Henry’s goal at Santiago Bernabeu.
