Real Madrid’s center back situation is getting worse as Eder Militao hurt his thigh.

The latest Real Madrid defender to get hurt is Éder Militão. This comes as worries grow about the club’s lack of backup at center back.

After having muscle in his left leg, Militão had to go back to Madrid from São Paulo, where he was training with Brazil. The center-back had tests that showed he had hurt his thigh.

🚨⚪️ Real Madrid expect Éder Militão to return against Celta Vigo and recovering in 10 days after withdrawing from Brazil national team with an injury

“After tests were done on our player Eder Militão by Real Madrid Medical Services, it was found that he has a muscle injury in his left quadriceps.” Real Madrid stated, “His progress will be tracked.”

The Athletic says that Militão will only be out for about 10 days. Even though the player will be fine soon, this is one of many injuries that Real Madrid defenders have had in the last two months, showing a clear weakness in Carlo Ancelotti’s team.

Militão and Antonio Rüdiger are pretty much the only two center backs that Real Madrid can start. If one of them got hurt badly and couldn’t play for a long time, Aurélien Tchouaméni, who is naturally a defender, would have to drop back and play in the back line for Real Madrid.

Even though Jesús Vallejo can play center back in a pinch, Ancelotti doesn’t trust the 27-year-old because he gets hurt easily. Due to a fibular tear, he only played three times for Granada last season on loan. In his only game for Real Madrid this season, he saw Alavés score two goals in one minute. The Spanish player joined Real Madrid in 2015, but he has only played 32 times for Los Blancos.

A few young defenders play for the club. Joan Martínez, 17, and Jacobo Ramón, 19, are two of them. However, neither has played for the first team. Martínez has never played for Real Madrid Castilla. Ancelotti is not likely to take the of calling up a defender with little experience to play against teams from the Champions League or La Liga.

Usually, Dani Carvajal could fill in at center back, but the 33-year-old hurt his knee against Villarreal on Oct. 5 and will not play again this season. Since they don’t have a real backup right back, Lucas Vázquez has to move to the right side to replace the Euro 2024 winner. This means that Militão or Rüdiger can’t be replaced by anyone else.

In fact, if Vázquez gets hurt, Militão would step in as right back, leaving the Germany international open once more.

Before the November international break, Real Madrid has games against Celta Vigo, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Valencia, AC Milan, and Osasuna. They will want Militão to be fit for those games as soon as possible. It’s possible that the club’s lack of depth at center back could its chances of defending its La Liga and Champions League titles.