Man City vs Real Madrid: Carlo Ancelotti claims injured star will ‘definitely be back’ next week

Carlo Ancelotti has said Casemiro will ‘definitely be back’ for the second leg of Real Madrid’s Champions League semi-final against Manchester City.

The Premier League champions will travel to the Bernabeu with a one-goal advantage in the tie, following a 4-3 win over Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

It was a frantic and asbording encounter at the Etihad, one in which both sides had plenty of opportunities to score.

City took four of those chances with Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva scoring, although they may be disappointed to have let Real in to net three given they were better for most of the game.

But Benzema scored Los Blancos’ first after 33 minutes, while Vinicius Junior found the back of the net from a superb solo goal after the break, before Benzema added a third via the spot with a delicious chip over Ederson.

It was a game that the two sides will come away from with frustrations, not least because they both were forced into substitutions due to injury.

David Alaba had to be withdrawn at half-time and was at fault for Jesus’s strike after 11 minutes, while Casemiro, who was also a doubt for the first leg, was an unused substitute.

However, Ancelotti is expecting the latter to be back for next Wednesday’s meeting at the Bernabeu, while Alaba’s prognosis is less certain.

“Casemiro definitely will be back,” the Real Madrid manager said after the game. “Alaba, we’ll see with his injury. He was feeling it and I took him off. I think they’ll both be back for the second leg.”