The first international break of the season does not come at a particularly good time for Real Madrid, who have won their opening three La Liga matches. However, it has helped with an injury situation for one of their players.
In recent years, Real Madrid have had several injury problems with their goalkeepers. Thibaut Courtois missed almost all of the 2023-24 season after tearing his ACL, and he also had multiple issues during the 2024-25 campaign too. And during these times, his deputy has been Andriy Lunin.
Lunin, who continues to attract transfer speculation, has been a very dependable backup for Real Madrid in recent years, but he is not averse to his own injury woes. And the latest has struck in the last few days, as Diario AS have reporting that he is struggling with a back problem.
Because of this, Lunin – whose issue was initially picked up during the warm-up before the victory over Mallorca last weekend – has withdrawn from Ukraine’s squad for their upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers against France and Azerbaijan in order to return to Real Madrid for medical tests and treatment.
Lunin should be fine for next weekend
Fortunately for Real Madrid, the report states that Lunin should be at 100% for the trip to Real Sociedad, which is Los Blancos’ first match after the international break. The issue is minor, but it was decided between all parties that no risks would be taken.
Lunin’s withdrawal means that Real Madrid now have 12 players away with their respective national teams during the international break. The likes of Vinicius Junior, Eder Militao and Trent Alexander-Arnold were all left out of their squads, which was very good news for Alonso, who is continuing his preparations for the trip to Donostia-San Sebastian – a place he knows very well – next weekend.
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