Real Madrid: Rescuing Mourinho

Starting from 2024, Real Madrid has suffered from continuous injury crises among its center-backs, leaving Jose Mourinho with no first-choice central defender available for the preseason phase.

This problem became clearly evident during the 2024/25 season, when the club saw three key players suffer injuries in quick succession.

Real Madrid's defensive crisis

Militao was the first, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and damaging both menisci. Later, during the decisive phase of the season and just days apart, both David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger sustained meniscus tears in their left knees.

The defense was thrown into disarray, forcing Ancelotti to find temporary solutions, including moving Aurelien Tchouameni to center-back, promoting Marcos Asensio from the youth team, and giving Jacobo Ramon playing time—these were the Italian coach's efforts to patch the holes in a backline ravaged by injuries.

The issue persisted into the following season. Although the club made several changes, including overhauling the medical department and appointing Niko Mihic as a new supervisor in early January—just a week before Xabi Alonso's departure—the personnel crisis did not end. Militao suffered another injury, this time a severe hamstring tear requiring surgery, and he is still recovering. The situation worsened with Alaba's calf injury and Rudiger's muscle problems, which sidelined the defensive leader for two months.

The German defender's case is the clearest example of the severity of the problem. The 33-year-old had to pause his playing career to seek treatment in London under the care of a specialist, following a personalized rehabilitation plan for his knee.

Rudiger has since returned to action, but he is constantly overloaded due to a dense match schedule. Meanwhile, new signing Dean Huijsen also fell victim to bad luck, as fitness issues kept him sidelined for 13 matches in his first season with the Galaxy. Asensio is currently dealing with a rectus femoris injury and will be out for four to six weeks, meaning he will miss the entire preseason.

This situation continues to complicate Mourinho's newly launched project. The Portuguese tactician realizes that he cannot rely on any of his first-team center-backs.

Ibrahima Konate is still on holiday after the World Cup and will only rejoin the squad in the second week of this month. Rudiger returned just a few days ago and needs more time to reach peak match fitness, so he did not travel with the team. Meanwhile, Militao is recovering slowly and has no set date for a return in the coming months.

Personnel options

In this context, the center-back pairing Mourinho is forced to use for the upcoming preseason matches consists of young talents Lamini Fati and Joan Martinez. These two youngsters played together for Castilla last season in their promotion campaign, and their presence accurately reflects the club's urgent need in this position. Clearly, they are only temporary solutions to the immediate personnel problem, but this could also be seen as an opportunity for the Portuguese coach to push President Florentino Perez to strengthen the quality at center-back.

In every project of the Special One, defenders are always the top priority. He desperately needs a reliable, proven addition at center-back. This is certainly a flaw that must be fixed as quickly as possible, especially given the severity of the injury and fitness issues among the current defenders.

However, for a new player to arrive, another must leave. In this personnel puzzle, Asencio emerges as the top candidate for departure. The club plans to sell him this summer to free up wages and generate funds to sign a world-class defender.

His recent injury, in theory, does not change that plan, although it could complicate the timing of the transfer. This is a critical moment for the club's transfer plans. The market will determine whether Real can truly heal the "wound" that has persisted for two years.