Midfielders Jude Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni will be available for Real Madrid’s Champions League opener after not playing in the Spanish league this weekend, coach Carlo Ancelotti said Monday.

Ancelotti said central defender Eder Militao, who missed practice on Monday, also will be fit to face VfB Stuttgart on Tuesday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

“Bellingham is fine, just like Tchouameni and Militao, who didn’t train today (Monday),” Ancelotti said. “He needed an extra day.”

Bellingham had been dealing with a foot injury and has not played since Madrid’s La Liga opener at Mallorca in August. His only other match this season was the Uefa Super Cup final against Atalanta, which kicked off Madrid’s season.

Tchouameni also was nursing a foot injury and missed the team’s 2-0 win at Real Sociedad in La Liga on Saturday.

Militao played against Sociedad but didn’t practise with the rest of the squad on Monday because of a reported knee ailment.

“He went through some individual work but he will be 100 per cent for the game tomorrow,” Ancelotti said. “Jude’s return is fantastic news for us. We know what he contributes with and without the ball,” defender Dani Carvajal said.

“We demand much more from ourselves and tomorrow is a new opportunity.”

Not available for Ancelotti is forward Brahim Diaz, who had to be replaced in the first half against Sociedad because of a right leg muscle injury.

Madrid won a record-extending 15th European
title last season defeating German side Borussia Dortmund in the final.

It will be the team’s first Champions League match since signing France star Kylian Mbappe, who is expected to start on Tuesday.

Though Real would be without midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, and former mainstays Nacho, Joselu, and now-retired midfielder Toni Kroos, Ancelotti said he was excited to start their title defence with ‘the best player in the world,’ Mbappe.

“Yes, we lost Nacho and Kroos, two of our most important players. And Joselu. In exchange, one of the best players in the world is coming. Do we have a better squad than last year? I think so,” Ancelotti said.

All three European club competitions have been expanded to 36 teams this season and Ancelotti’s side will also be taking part in the expanded men’s 32-team Club World Cup, starting next June in the US. “The calendar is too demanding. A new competition is coming and we don’t know how it will turn out,” he added.

“It may or may not be more entertaining. The fact is that we have two more games in this competition.”

The Italian, who won the Champions League five times as a manager and twice as a player, said the competition holds a place above all else in his heart. “For me, this competition is very special, not only for the club. But it’s not just that, it’s the day-to-day work to get there,” he added.

“The (Champions League) will always be the same even if they change the format a little and (its relation with) Real Madrid, the same. This (year) is going to be another (chance) at history and I hope we can reach the final like last year.”