Thibaut Courtois will make his first appearance of the season for Real Madrid after returning to fitness after a number of injury issues.
The Belgium international, 31, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during a training session in August and was expected to miss the rest of the season.
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As he neared a return in March, he then suffered a meniscus issue that required surgery and sidelined him for a further seven weeks.
He has been included by Carlo Ancelotti in the first XI for Real’s La Liga game with Cadiz on Saturday.
📋✅ Our starting 𝗫𝗜!
🆚 @cadiz_cfen#RealMadridCádiz pic.twitter.com/7rqNYdaHRx— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) May 4, 2024
The Italian’s side can win the La Liga title if they win and Barcelona fail to beat Girona later on Saturday.
Andriy Lunin will keep his place in goal for the Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich.
Ukraine international Lunin, who The Athletic reported earlier this week is close to agreeing a new contract that will keep him at Real until 2028, has deputised in the absence of Courtois and will retain his position in the starting XI for the game against Bayern at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Ancelotti said on Friday: “He’s (Courtois) fine. He’s going to play tomorrow after a long time. It’s good news for us that he’s coming back. I think he can contribute. He has a lot of enthusiasm. We are all delighted that he can come back.”
“The final we have in our minds is Wednesday’s against Bayern, where Lunin will play. After that, we’ll see”
Real and Bayern are tied after drawing the first-leg 2-2 last week.
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(Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)
