With less than an hour to their decisive match against Girona, terrible news hits Real Madrid as another serious injury has been discovered to hit one of the key players.

Real Madrid has announced that defender Antonio Rudiger will miss Saturday’s crucial match against Girona due to a muscle injury.

Rudiger had been sidelined with a hamstring injury earlier this month and was anticipated to make a return for this important fixture.

However, the club has now confirmed that he has sustained a thigh injury, which is expected to keep him out for at least two weeks.

This injury comes at a challenging time for Real Madrid, as they are already dealing with absences in their defensive lineup.

Alongside Rudiger, Eder Militao, David Alaba, and Nacho Fernandez are also sidelined due to injuries.

As a result, the team will have to rely on 19-year-old Jacobo Ramon, who has yet to make his senior debut, as the only available natural centre-back for the upcoming match.

Ancelotti is anticipated to include Jacobo on the substitutes’ bench and deploy the midfield duo of Aurelien Tchouameni and right-back Dani Carvajal as makeshift centre-backs against Girona.

Carvajal, who faced challenges due to his smaller stature in the previous match against Atletico Madrid, will now be tasked with containing Girona’s Artem Dovbyk, a towering 6’2″ forward who has already netted 14 goals this season.

Looking ahead, Ancelotti will also be concerned about Madrid’s upcoming Champions League fixture against RB Leipzig in the first leg of the last 16 on Tuesday.

Although Nacho is expected to recover in time for that match, Madrid will still be without three of their four regular centre-backs.