Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti confirms that Eder Militao is in contention to start the Champions League final.
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that Eder Militao is in his thinking when it comes to a starting role for the Champions League final.
Militao injured his ACL in Real Madrid’s opening match of the 2023-24 La Liga campaign, but he returned to action as a late substitute against Athletic Bilbao at the end of March.
The Brazil international has been involved in each of his side’s last seven league games, playing the full 90 minutes in three of them, and he will again feature in Sunday’s clash with Villarreal.
Militao has only played 10 minutes in the Champions League since his return, though, with Aurelien Tchouameni and Nacho instead being used alongside Antonio Rudiger in the middle of the defence.
Tchouameni is a major doubt for the final due to a foot problem, and Ancelotti has said that Militao could play from the first whistle against Borussia Dortmund on June 1.
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Ancelotti says Militao could start Champions League final
“It could be that he starts in the final, he is close to 100%,” Ancelotti told reporters ahead of Sunday’s La Liga clash with Villarreal.
“He was missing minutes and he is taking them. He will play tomorrow and I see him very close to his best level. It is an option that we have.”
Militao came off the bench in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City and also featured for the final moments against Bayern Munich in the second leg of the semi-final.
There have also been suggestions that Thibaut Courtois will start in goal against Dortmund, with the club’s number one goalkeeper also recently returning from two knee injuries which both required operations.
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Courtois, Lunin are battling for Champions League goalkeeping spot
However, Ancelotti refused to confirm whether it would be Courtois or Andriy Lunin between the sticks against Dortmund at the start of next month.
Lunin will feature on Sunday, though, with the Ukraine international impressing in Courtois’s absence this term.
“For me, there is no debate. Lunin has had a fantastic season and Courtois is returning to what he was before, the best in the world. Lunin is going to play tomorrow,” said Ancelotti.
Courtois has been an unused substitute for Real Madrid’s last two Champions League matches, but he has started and finished each of the team’s last three league games.
The 32-year-old is expected to start Real Madrid’s final La Liga fixture of the season against Real Betis, which comes one week before the Champions League final.
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