Real Madrid full-back Dani Carvajal has spoken of Real Madrid’s desire to fight for every title available this season despite their slow start. Speaking with Marca, he revealed that he’s on the road to recovery following his injury and that the team spirit within the camp is in a good place.
"I’m doing much better," he said. "My entire internal ligament ruptured, and the initial recuperation period was expected to be ten weeks. This Friday will make six weeks, but I’m doing well. I’m touching the ball, I’m working with more intensity. Hopefully after the international break I’ll be available to the coach."
"When you’re out you suffer tenfold, because in the end you can’t do anything to help the team and it’s unnerving. Even more so when you’re in moments of tension, like we are right now. Every game is like a final. There are 38 games, but all you can do is try to add three points every match. Teams don’t forgive."
Teams certainly haven’t forgiven Madrid this season. Currently in fourth, Los Blancos have lost two of the last five and are four points off league leaders Real Sociedad. The Basque outfit currently look to be the antithesis of last season’s sluggish champions – lean, mean and full of beans.
"Every coach and team seeks to build a positive consistency, but it’s not easy," Carvajal continued. "Injuries arise. A team like Real Madrid has many internationals, and in October and November there are three more international matches [than usual]. There are trips, games, concentrations. You have almost no time to rest but you have to get back into focus for the next game. Also, this year there hasn’t been a preseason and so it’s difficult to maintain a consistency. There’s both physical and mental fatigue."
"We’re with the coach, the club and the teammate beside us until the death. The coach’s philosophy is for us all to be together, to ensure that we all go in the same direction in the same manner we have in all the years he’s been here. But it’s complicated. We play in the Champions League, for example, after the break. We have to travel to Italy, then Ukraine, then Seville. These are very demanding matches and they’re coming every three days – it’s difficult to win everything. Teams that don’t play in Europe have a whole week to prepare for a match. They can rest and better analyse their rival."
"The idea is clear. We’re going to fight for the three titles, as well as the fourth in the Super Cup this January. We’ll go for it all. I think we’re in good physical shape and I hope that from November and December we’ll have a two or three good months."
Like Carvajal alluded to, they have a tough run of fixtures coming up after the forthcoming international break. They travel to a Villarreal side currently second in the table and flying high under Unai Emery, before the aforementioned trips to Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk and Sevilla. Also sandwiched in there is a potential banana skin – Alavés at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Born in Leganés, Carvajal came through the Real Madrid youth system but left for Bayer Leverkusen in Germany without making a first-team appearance. He spent just one season in the Bundesliga before earning himself a move back to the Spanish capital, where he’s played since.
Carvajal has won LaLiga twice, the Copa Del Rey, four Champions League titles, three European Super Cups and four Club World Cups. With Spain, he’s won the U19 European Championship in 2011 and the U21 edition two years later. The right-back has since become an integral part of the Spanish setup, earning 25 caps for La Roja since 2014.