Following their weekend win over Villarreal in La Liga, Real Madrid have started preparing for Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League meeting with AS Roma.

And, there was some welcome news during the session, with MARCA reporting that both Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy are now training normally alongside their teammates.

Both defenders have taken another encouraging step towards returning to action. However, their involvement against Roma is considered unlikely, and neither is expected to travel to Italy with the squad on Tuesday.

Militao, who has been out of action since April earlier this year, has been training with the group for longer than his teammate.

In the last week of September, the Brazilian centre-back was visited by Finnish surgeon Lasse Lempainen, who operated on his biceps femoris tendon injury and gave him the green light to resume full team training.

Militao back in group training. (Picture credit: Real Madrid official website)

That assessment allowed Militao to begin the final stage of his rehabilitation and he returned to group training just one week ago.

However, manager Jose Mourinho confirmed before the Villarreal match that the defender would need another couple of weeks before being ready to play again.

From a tactical formation and squad depth perspective, "Real Madrid defensive duo take another step forward as they edge closer to return" carries substantial tournament implications for international seeding and domestic campaign momentum. Coaching staffs are heavily weighing high-pressing efficiency (PPDA), defensive transition pace, and fixture fatigue management.

Tactical analysts monitoring Champions League metrics emphasize that squad adaptability and set-piece execution will likely dictate outcomes in high-leverage knockout environments. Real-time match telemetry and tracking data continue to inform managerial decision-making.

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