Real Madrid had an almost perfect second half of 2023. They won every game they played in the Champions League, finished top of Group C and secured their place in the round of 16, where they will face RB Leipzig. And in La Liga they barely lost one game, against Atlético Madrid, beat Barcelona in the 'Clásico' in Montjuic and are at the top of the standings together with the surprising Girona.
And not only the results were good. The team's performance in most of the matches was convincing, sustained mainly by the high level shown by some stars such as Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo Goes, Federico Valverde and Antonio Rudiger.
However, Los Merengues had a serious problem throughout the semester: injuries. Many important players of the squad had physical problems that kept them off the field for a long time. The less serious ones, such as Vinicius Junior or Eduardo Camavinga, will be back soon. But other cases are more complex and will have to wait much longer, such as Thibaut Courtois, Eder Militao and David Alaba.
One of the players who suffered the most injuries is Arda Guler. The young Turkish midfielder arrived this summer from Fenerbahce for $20 million, but has not yet been able to play a single minute. During the preseason he suffered a meniscus injury that required surgery and then, once he recovered, he twice had muscular problems that delayed his debut. However, that now seems to be behind him.
Little time left
Last week Arda Guler completed two training sessions with his teammates and seems to be in perfect physical condition. According to Marca, if things continue to go well over the next few days, Carlo Ancelotti's plan is for the midfielder to play a few minutes against Mallorca on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
