Muscle strain: Tchouaméni ruled out for Real Madrid's La Liga opener

Aurélien Tchouaméni will not travel to Barcelona for Real Madrid’s La Liga opener against Espanyol on Saturday at 21:30. The French international defensive midfielder, already rested during the final warm-up match against Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen, is forced to withdraw for the second consecutive time.

Victim of a muscle strain contracted upon his return from leave, Tchouaméni followed a reduced training programme last week before resuming normal sessions in recent days. José Mourinho provided clarification at Thursday’s press conference: “Tchouaméni is in good shape and will train tomorrow with the group, but he needs to train this afternoon, tomorrow and Sunday to accelerate his preparation.” The former Monaco player should thus be fit for the clash against Real Sociedad next Wednesday at the Bernabéu.

The Merengues had obtained a postponement of their La Liga opening against Real Sociedad, which explains why their league season only begins this weekend. Against Espanyol, the Madrid squad includes several summer signings and French internationals. Ibrahima Konaté, Eduardo Camavinga and Kylian Mbappé are all available, as are new recruits Marc Cucurella, Denzel Dumfries, Bernardo Silva, Yan Diomandé and Carlos Espi. They should all make their debuts in white, either as starters or during the match.

Konaté, Dumfries and Silva were officially presented this week by president Florentino Pérez. The French centre-back revealed he is living a childhood dream by joining Real Madrid: the very first shirt he ever received in his life, given by his older brother, was precisely a Merengues jersey.