Champions League: Major Blow For Real Madrid As 2 Key PLayers Set To Miss Liverpool Clash

Real Madrid will be missing two key midfielders when they take on Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The La Liga champions left for the United Kingdom with a depleted midfield, without two of Carlo Ancelotti’s first-choice stars in the engine room to prepare for the round of 16 first-leg clash at Anfield.

Both Aurelien Tchouameni and Toni Kroos are not part of the squad to play on Tuesday.

Tchouameni, who turned down a transfer to Liverpool last summer and instead moved to the Bernabeu, missed Saturday’s 2-0 La Liga win at Osasuna with a bout of flu.

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Kroos, meanwhile, is still suffering from the gastroenteritis that has seen him sit out Real Madrid’s last two matches.

The double absence is a major blow for Real coach Carlo Ancelotti with the pair having been regular starters in midfield this season, most recently together in the Club World Cup final win over Al-Hilal earlier this month.

Left-back Ferland Mendy was already out having missed the last month with a thigh issue.

However, Luka Modric made the trip alongside Ernesto Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga, Mario Martin, Sergio Arribas and Dani Ceballos.

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Madrid came into the game on the back of a 2-0 win over Osasuna, thanks to goals from Federico Valverde and Marco Asensio.

Liverpool have also found some form lately, recording 2-0 victories over Everton and Newcastle United in the Premier League.

Real have at least been boosted by striker Karim Benzema traveling despite missing three of the last five games through muscular problems, while right-back Dani Carvajal allayed any injury fears with an appearance from the bench against Osasuna at the weekend.