What about Vinicius? Real Madrid should be worried before the debut in Copa del Rey

This Saturday Real Madrid will begin their journey in the Copa del Rey 2024. For the round of 32, they will face Arandina, a team from the fourth division of Spanish soccer, who surprised everyone by getting so far in the tournament. For Los Merengues it will be an opportunity to rest from the demands of La Liga, in which they have been competing with Girona for weeks for the lead in the standings.

However, coach Carlo Ancelotti knows that his team must not relax. Although it is unlikely that they will have problems defeating a team of much lower quality than them, unexpected situations have happened in recent years and more than once powerful teams have been surprisingly eliminated from the Copa del Rey.

That is why most of the squad's stars will be present, either in the starting lineup or on the bench. However, there will be three exceptions. During the pre-match press conference, the Italian manager explained: "The only ones not traveling are (Toni) Kroos, who has some problems, (Aurélien) Tchouameni and Vinicius, who has to finish his recovery. The others are traveling".

Toni Kroos suffered a physical problem during the last game against Real Mallorca, although it is nothing serious and he will have no difficulties for the next games. What nobody expected was that Aurélien Tchouaméni and Vinicius Junior would be absent. The Brazilian winger had not played for two months and returned last Wednesday, when he played almost 60 minutes, but now he will be out of the field again.

What's next for them?

After the match against Arandina in Copa del Rey, Real Madrid will fly to Saudi Arabia to start their participation in the Spanish Super Cup. On Wednesday they will face Atlético Madrid in the semifinals and, if they win, they will compete for the title against the winner between Barcelona and Osasuna. Ancelotti is undoubtedly taking care of Vinicius so that he is at his best for these matches.