Real Madrid had a strong 4-1 win over Villarreal in round 17 of La Liga. However, the joy could not be complete when key midfielder David Alaba was injured and had to leave the field in the 35th minute.

According to the club’s official information, Alaba received a medical examination immediately after leaving the field. The diagnosis results showed that the Real Madrid pillar had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. The Austrian player will have surgery in the coming days.

This is an extremely heavy loss for Real Madrid because a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament is the worst injury for an athlete. It is expected that Alaba will have to miss 7-9 months and the season will likely end for him this December.

Alaba’s 2023/24 season with Real Madrid ended early after a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury

What’s worse is that this is the third anterior cruciate ligament rupture that Real Madrid has suffered this season. The two previous cases were Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao.

The absence of Alaba will seriously affect Real Madrid’s plans for the rest of the season. Because he is the club’s number 1 left-sided centre-back, partnering with Antonio Rudiger after Militao had to take a long break.

Alaba’s retirement means Real Madrid only has two central defenders in the first team: Nacho and Rudiger. A force that is too thin when at the beginning of 2024, they will play a few important matches such as meeting Atletico Madrid two times in the Spanish Super Cup (January 11) and La Liga (February 4) and the match against the team. top of the Girona table (February 11).

Not to mention the Champions League round of 16 match schedule – where Real Madrid aims to win the championship after winning 6 matches in the group stage.

Most likely, coach Carlo Ancelotti will have to rotate midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni as a central defender instead of Alaba. Besides, Real Madrid needs to consider looking for reinforcements in the next January transfer window.