Injuries hit Real Madrid before facing Getafe
When Real Madrid hosts Getafe on Tuesday in the postponed match between the two teams from the first stage of the Spanish League, Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid's coach, will have to rely again on the young elements in light of the injury crisis that the team suffers from.
The injury crisis worsened with the announcement Monday morning that Alvaro Odriozola and Idir Militao suffered from muscle problems.
The team is already missing the efforts of Eden Hazard, Rodrigo Goss, Federico Valverde, Danny Carvajal, Lucas Vasquez, Sergio Ramos and Isco due to injuries, as well as Toni Kroos due to suspension.
Zidane hopes that Lucas Vásquez, Carvajal and Isco will recover in time, but after Martin Odegaard and Luca Jovic were allowed to leave the team on loan contracts until the end of the season, the French coach became forced to rely heavily on young, inexperienced elements.
The center-back player Victor Chost / 20 / captain of the second-row team at the Royal Club participated with the first team of Real Madrid in the King's Cup, and his participation is likely to be repeated, even if from the bench, in the absence of Ramos.
Chost led the second-row team to crown the European Youth League, and some see him as a potential successor to Ramos in the long-term in the royal club as well as in the Spanish national team.
Zidane also pushed Marvin Park in the final minutes of the match, which ended with a 2-1 victory over Huesca on Saturday.
Marvin Park grew up in Mallorca and moved to Tranmere in England when he was nine years old and has won everyone's praise during his three seasons at Tranmere's youth academy.
When his Nigerian father and his South Korean mother decided to return to Mallorca, he had to return with them, but he continued to advance until he moved to Real Madrid.
Marvin Park, 19, almost scored his first participation with Real Madrid from the bench in the first match for the team of the season, but Zidane did not pay him in any match until the injury crisis hit Real Madrid recently.
Zidane is also expected to push three other youngsters into training on Monday: Miguel Gutierrez, Antonio Blanco and Sergio Aribas.
Gutierrez was the top scorer for Real Madrid's second team in the UEFA Youth Championship last season, a great achievement for the left-back player.
The 20-year-old midfielder Blanco has already achieved more than one achievement with Spain's U-17 and U-19 teams.
Aribas participated in Real Madrid's match against Levante, and he had also starred in the journey of Real Madrid's second team towards the European youth league title.
Despite the presence of these promising names and their brilliance, Zidane might not have relied on them within the first team if things went normally and the team had not been exposed to the injury crisis.
The long list of injuries in the squad affected Zidane, and the coach appeared unusually sharp to him during Friday night's press conference to talk about the Huesca match.
"This year we have the right to compete for the league. Let's let the team that won the league last season, compete for it now," Zidane said in his statements to reporters who commented on his defensive tone.
Zidane raised his voice, adding, "We won the league last season, not 10 years ago! It was last year. So we just need a little respect."
In the match against Huesca, Real Madrid's players seemed to respond to what some saw as Zidane's battle cry.
The players presented a strong show and a high competitive spirit against Huesca, and the royal team managed to reduce the difference with leaders Atlético Madrid to seven points, before the Atletico match scheduled for Monday against Celta Vigo at the end of the twenty-second phase of the League.