Why Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Aren't Playing for Real Madrid vs. Mallorca | OneFootball

Real Madrid will have to get past Mallorca without the help of Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo up top.

Although the La Liga title is now out of reach for Real Madrid following their 4–3 defeat to Barcelona, Los Blancos are still hoping to end the season on a high. First up is a match against Mallorca, a side that previously held Real Madrid to a 1–1 draw earlier in the season.

The La Liga clash will be Carlo Ancelotti's second-to-last home match as Real Madrid's manager. Before Ancelotti takes over the Brazil national team, though, the winningest manager in club history will look to finish his Real Madrid tenure with three final victories, a task that is much more difficult than it sounds.

Not only are Los Blancos already without the injured Éder Militão, Dani Carvajal, Eduardo Camavinga, Antonio Rüdiger, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy and Lucas Vázquez, but they are also now missing Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo.

Why Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Aren't Playing for Real Madrid vs. Mallorca

Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo are both sidelined with injuries and therefore are unavailable to play against Mallorca. The Brazilian wingers were left out of Real Madrid's squad, leaving Ancelotti with just three first-team forwards.

Real Madrid confirmed Vinícius Júnior is nursing a sprained left ankle. The 24-year-old was forced to come off the pitch in the 88th minute of El Clásico after trying and failing to play through the injury.

Rodrygo, on the other hand, did not feature in the all-important fixture. There was some speculation that the Brazilian's lack of minutes had something to do with a potential transfer on the horizon, but Ancelotti confirmed the real reason Rodrygo remained on the bench.

“Rodrygo? He had fever and didn’t train last week so he wasn’t fit [for El Clásico]. Today, he felt discomfort and we wanted to look at it," Ancelotti shared.

The fresh problem for Rodrygo prevents the 24-year-old from playing against Mallorca. Instead, Ancelotti will have to rely on Kylian Mbappé to carry the goalscoring load for Los Blancos. Brahim Díaz and Endrick are options as well.