David Alaba tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on Sunday evening, Real Madrid announced. The Austrian therefore has to miss the 2024 European Championship.

“Following the tests carried out on our player David Alaba, he was diagnosed with a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee. The player will undergo surgery in the coming days,” Real Madrid said.

After thirty minutes of play against Villarreal, disaster struck for the man marker. The 31-year-old Austrian was injured and his facial expression showed that it was a serious injury. Alaba is Austria's captain, but cannot be of service to his country. A cruciate ligament injury usually requires a recovery period of about eight to nine months.

It is a particularly hard blow for Real Madrid. The defender is a permanent fixture under coach Carlo Ancelotti, who earlier this season also saw two starting players drop out with a torn cruciate ligament: Thibaut Courtois and Éder Militão.

“Alaba has torn his cruciate ligament and it is very sad news,” Ancelotti said afterwards at the press conference. “This is the first time it has happened to me: three of my players tore their cruciate ligament… It is unbelievable.”

Real initially did not want to enter the market to attract a new central defender, but will most likely do so now. “We will see in the coming days whether we can sign someone in January,” Ancelotti said.

In addition to the Dutch national team, Austria will also compete against France and one of the following four countries, which are still competing for a place in the final tournament: Poland, Wales, Finland or Estonia.

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