After a victory much harder than expected against Rayo Vallecano, Real Madrid is already focused on preparing for the second leg of the Round of 16 in the Champions League against Atlético de Madrid… and Carlo Ancelotti has received the best news possible: Thibaut Courtois and Antonio Rüdiger have rejoined the team for training.

Why didn’t Courtois and Rüdiger play against Rayo Vallecano?

The surprise came yesterday morning when, just hours before Real Madrid faced Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabéu, the names of Thibaut Courtois and Antonio Rüdiger were not on the list of players called up for the match. Instead, Carlo Ancelotti was forced to line up Andriy Lunin and David Alaba.

Ancelotti waited until the last minute to try to recover Rüdiger, at least to have him available for the bench. However, he was unable to overcome a flu-like illness he had been battling for the past few days. It wasn’t anything serious. Courtois’ case, as Ancelotti explained after the match, was different, as he was dealing with a "minor issue."

Courtois and Rüdiger, recovered

With barely a day to recover from the match against Rayo Vallecano, Real Madrid returned to activity this morning, where the starting players worked out in the gym and the substitutes trained on the field. There, Antonio Rüdiger and Thibaut Courtois appeared, making it clear that they have already overcome their issues and will be able to play against Atlético de Madrid.

Tomorrow, after completing the final training session before the match against Atlético de Madrid in the Champions League, Ancelotti will provide an update on the physical condition of both players. But, unless anything changes in the next few hours, Courtois and Rüdiger will recover their places in the Real Madrid starting lineup to face the most important match of the season so far.