Cristiano Ronaldo has been ruled out of Real Madrid’s testing trip to Real Sociedad tonight as his persistent knee injury continues to cause problems.
The Portuguese, who had already been left out of his national team’s squad for next weekend’s European Championship qualifier with Albania, has been struggling with knee pain for nearly six months.
Although he has continued to play through the problem, Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti believes the upcoming international break is a good opportunity to give his biggest star a significant rest.
“He’s fine but we preferred to use next two weeks allow him to completely recuperate and get him in optimum condition for the derby against Atletico [on September 13] and the start of the Champions League.”
Ancelotti also revealed he was surprised by Xabi Alonso’s sudden departure to Bayern Munich.
“Everything was calm and then he decided otherwise,” he said. “Everyone spoke to him and he explained that he needed a new motivation.”
With two days remaining until the transfer window closes, Ancelotti also admitted his team could yet make more moves in the market with Monaco striker Radamel Falcao seemingly on the agenda, and Ancelotti added: “Something might happen or might not happen. If we think a signing would improve the squad we’ll do it.”