Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger stood a good chance of missing the rest of the season anyway through suspension, but Los Blancos would have been without him anyway due to injury. The 32-year-old Germany international has undergone surgery on his knee, as confirmed by Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Rudiger has been dealing with issues in his knee all season, supposedly with an arthritic issue, However it was his meniscus that gave up on Saturday night in the Copa del Rey final, coming off with nine minutes to go in extra time for Endrick Felipe. That was before he threw an ice cube at the referee from the sideline, for which he was sent off, and is likely facing a lengthy ban.
Los Blancos have announced that Rudiger has undergone successful surgery on a partially torn meniscus. While they do not give a recovery time for him, Diario AS report that Rudiger will likely be out for six to eight weeks, with the decision taken in order to hopefully have him ready for the Club World Cup this summer.
Were his recovery to be on the shorter end of that scale, Rudiger would likely be back in time for their opening game of the tournament against Al-Hilal on the 18th of June in the USA. Should his rehabilitation extend towards two months, then he will miss the majority of that tournament too, as well as the end of the La Liga season.
It leaves Carlo Ancelotti, and his rumoured interim replacement Santiago Solari in the case of the Club World Cup, without a key player as they try to retain the Liga title. Aurelien Tchouameni looks as if he may be called upon again in the backline, although David Alaba could return alongside Raul Asencio. If Tchouameni did drop back, without Eduardo Camavinga, there would then be a shortage in the middle of the pitch.
