Real Madrid may be top of La Liga at the moment, but their path to get there has been skewed by many injury problems. They have been especially affected in the defensive department, following long-term injuries to Eder Militao and David Alaba.

This has left Antonio Rudiger and Nacho Fernandez as Carlo Ancelotti’s only senior centre-back options, and to make matters worse, the latter was sent off during Thursday’s last-gasp victory over Alaves, meaning that he will miss at least one La Liga match, that being against Mallorca on the third of January.

However, it could get worse for Real Madrid as MD report that Nacho’s ban could be extended if the Competition Committee deem him to have been a “repeat offender”. The veteran defender was sent off earlier this season for a crunching tackle on Portu against Girona, and if his challenge on Samu Omorodion is deemed to be in a similar nature, he could also miss the match with Almeria.

Real Madrid have been heavily linked with signing another centre-back in January following Alaba’s season-ending injury. However, for the Mallorca match at least, midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni will be forced to play in defence, although he has already done so this season (vs Osasuna and Alaves).