Rodrygo return boosts injury-hit Real Madrid
Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed Brazil winger Rodrygo will return to action for Real Madrid for its next LaLiga encounter, against Getafe.
Rodrygo has missed the past two games after sustaining a muscle injury in Madrid's win over Osasuna at Santiago Bernabeu earlier in November.
It provides a welcome boost for Los Blancos, who are still licking their wounds from a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.
That loss also came with an injury to midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, who joins David Alaba, Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Vinicius Junior and Aurelien Tchouameni on the sidelines.
"Rodrygo will be back tomorrow, Tchouameni will be back next game and Camavinga will be back soon," Ancelotti revealed.
Ancelotti's side entered the weekend second on the LaLiga table, four points behind rival Barcelona, but Barca's shock defeat to lowly Las Palmas has opened the door for Madrid to make progress by winning its game in hand.
It welcomes Getafe to the Bernabeu and has confidence in closing the gap at the summit, having won 18 of its past 21 games against Geta Azulones in LaLiga, scoring a total of 51 goals in the process.
"In many years of my career, only one year has been quite easy: last year," Ancelotti added. "All the other years I have had to solve problems. Sooner or later, the problems come.
"It is impossible to think of a season like last year when everything went perfectly.
"It's better to find the problem in November or December than in April or May. Now the problem can be solved and, as I said, we are going to solve it.
"We are fighting for the league against a rival that is doing very well. The [FIFA Club] World Cup is coming, the Super Cup ... and above all the injured players are coming back.
"We have to endure the moment with a good attitude and commitment because the good things are yet to come."
The Italian continued to back 25-year-old France forward Kylian Mbappe, who had another subdued performance in Madrid's loss to Liverpool as he failed to trouble the Premier League club's defence and missed a penalty in the second half.
The Frenchman had ended a four-game run without a goal in all competitions in his previous LaLiga match, netting the opener against Leganes, but managed just two shots during the trip to Anfield, with his saved penalty the only effort on target.
"He's aware that he has to do better, but he and everyone. We have to keep supporting him and think that it's a collective problem but not an individual one," Ancelotti said.
"The team's dynamic in LaLiga has improved a lot in the last two games, we have to bear in mind that we are missing a lot of players. Rodrygo returns tomorrow and we must be patient."
