Isco nearing return from appendicitis surgery

It’s been about 3 matches since Isco has been in action for Real Madrid. He has been missing after undergoing surgery for appendicitis, which has now been alongside other key injuries for the club the past two weeks. It appears, though, that Isco at least believes he will be back rather soon from recovery.

Isco’s Instagram post translates to “Today they have removed my stitches, hope to be back playing.” While we don’t know a specific timetable for his return, Isco at least seems to believe he is close to making a return to the squad.

With so many injuries racking up for Real, Isco returning would be a most welcome sight, especially given Real’s recent form. Above all, it’s most important that Isco makes a full recovery and they don’t rush him back.

Lopetegui trusts in Benzema during goal slump

While some have seemed to already give up on Karim Benzema in his recent goal drought, Julen Lopetegui still believes he will break through.

“We trust in all of the players and that goes for Karim too.”

“When it comes to scoring goals, you go through spells. He made a great start to the season, and now, just like the rest of the team, he’s not managing to find the net.”

“With hard work and by keeping calm, we’ll get back on the goal trail. However, it’s not just down to Karim, it’s the whole team’s responsibility.”

Lopetegui is right, Benzema is certainly going through a dry spell that seems to be translating to the rest of the offense alongside all the injuries. When the season first started, Benzema looked pretty good and was scoring, now he’s slumping at a time when they team is struggling as a whole.

It’s a bit unfair to single Benzema out when the cohesiveness of the club just isn’t there at the moment. It is good that Lopetegui points to the whole team not being effective right now and not just one player.

It’s a tough month that Real will have to get through, having El Clasico at the end of the month and seemingly having more injuries as the weeks go on. They have to power through it, considering they are still tied with Barcelona for first.

Bale in for Wales, Marcelo out for Brazil

On the topic of Real’s injuries, there’s a positive and a negative coming out of this week. Gareth Bale is included in Wales’ squad for their match against Spain on the 11th after a clean scan. He also looks like he’ll be available for Real in the Alavés match over the weekend.

On the other side, Marcelo is not in Brazil’s squad for their international friendly against Saudi Arabia on the 12th. He is missing significant time now at a time when Real really can’t afford to have serious injuries. We already know that Carvajal is gonna miss a huge chunk of time because of a calf injury.

Not an ideal time for Real, but as said before, this is the big test they have to overcome in order to keep up in the league race. They’re getting some help with Barcelona not winning their past three league matches and they’ll have to prepare for further action without key players involved.