Carlo Ancelotti says Jude Bellingham will be available for Real Madrid’s Champions League opener against Stuttgart on Tuesday after being sidelined for a time with a muscle injury.

Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni is also back in the race after withdrawing from the France squad for the September international break due to a foot injury.

Ancelotti explained that defender Eder Militao did not train on Monday as he recovers from playing 90 minutes in Madrid’s win over Real Sociedad on Saturday, but that he would be available “100 percent” on Tuesday.

“Bellingham is back, Tchouameni is back,” Ancelotti said. “Militao didn’t train today because he needed a day to recover.”

Of the 26-year-old Militao, Ancelotti added: “We thought about giving him another day of rest so he can do some work with the ball, but tomorrow he will be 100 percent.”

Bellingham, 21, has been sidelined since August after suffering a muscle injury to his lower right leg in training, meaning he will miss Real Madrid’s last four La Liga games and England’s two Nations League matches this month.

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The 24-year-old Tchouameni missed last weekend’s match against Real Sociedad with a foot injury that kept him out of the French training camp in September.

The return of Bellingham and Tchouameni comes after striker Brahim Diaz suffered a hip injury on Saturday that will keep him out of action for at least two months.

Midfielders Eduardo Camavinga and Dani Ceballos are also out. The former has a knee ligament injury and the latter an ankle ligament injury.

Given the number of injuries his team are struggling with, Ancelotti criticised the busy fixture schedule ahead of the new, expanded Champions League format which kicks off tomorrow.

“We looked at what we can do (with injuries), but it’s not in our hands,” Ancelotti said. “The calendar is too demanding. A new competition is coming up and you don’t know how it’s going to end. It may or may not be more fun.

“But what is certain is that we have two more games. If the governing bodies do not start thinking that players are getting injured because they are playing too much, we have a problem. I advocate reducing the number of games to have more attractive competitions.”

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(Pierre-Philippe Macrou/AFP via Getty Images)