Ibrahima Konaté aims to play Villarreal after right knee ligament injury

Real Madrid centre-back Ibrahima Konaté returned from international duty with France after picking up an injury during training. He has a right leg collateral ligament issue that should keep him out for 10 to 12 days. Now, after working his recovery at Valdebebas, he’s aiming to be fit for this Saturday’s Bernabéu match against Villarreal.

Boost for the back line

Konaté trained fully with the group this morning, and unless something unexpected happens he will be available for Mourinho for the game. With Huijsen suspended and Asencio sidelined, the options in central defence are limited: Militao has been training for days but is still short on match rhythm. If Konaté is available, Mourinho won’t need to use Tchouaméni or Dumfries as centre-backs.

Valverde and Kylian Mbappé remain absent from group training, working indoors instead. Mourinho also won’t have all his international players until Friday, the day before the Villarreal clash.