Real Madrid’s preparations for Saturday’s game (and the rest of the season) suffered a huge setback on Thursday when Thibaut Courtois broke his cruciate knee ligament, with the club informing that he will have an operation in the coming days.
Courtois has saved Real Madrid many times since arriving in 2018 and his injury arrives without the club having a reliable backup.
Substitute keeper Andriy Lunin disappointed last season when he stood in for Courtois and Real Madrid had hoped to sell him over the summer, only for Lunin to dig his heels in and stay.
The Ukrainian keeper now looks likely to start in the San Mames Stadium and Athletic will view that as something that could help them kick off the season with an upset.
Elsewhere, FC Barcelona are running out of time to find the money to be able to inscribe players such as Alejandro Balde, Ilkay Gundogan and Oriol Romeu into the squad for the weekend opener away to Getafe and if they can’t meet financial fair-play requirements before then, coach Xavi Hernandez will have to use B-team players.
Getafe are likely to be difficult opponents and with Jose Bordalas remaining in the dugout, they will use every tactic they can to break up Barca’s play, run the clock down and stop their passing game. Expect a dry pitch and lots of stoppages in a match where being effective from set pieces could be vital.
