Of the eight Real Madrid defenders who started the season in the first team, three - David Alaba, Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao - have recovered from knee surgery at some point this season. A fourth could soon join Carvajal and Militao in the dugout.

Ferland Mendy was forced off after just eight minutes of the final with a recurrence of his hamstring injury. Antonio Rudiger, however, managed to make it through to extra time after 111 minutes, despite being heavily strapped up late on. By the time he was substituted for Endrick Felipe, Rudiger was limping heavily.

Carlo Ancelotti said of the German defender: "He held on as long as he could, although in the dying seconds he found the strength to leap at the referee and throw an ice cube at Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea, for which he was shown a red card and later apologised. Based on the footage, the most likely outcome is that he will miss between 4 and 12 games through suspension, and with just five games left in the season, he could be out for the rest of the La Liga campaign.

However, the 32-year-old could also be ruled out of this summer's Club World Cup. According to Marca, Rudiger has been playing through an injury for some time now in order to help the team, and has a damaged meniscus. He played through the pain on Saturday night, but was eventually forced off when his knee gave out. He will now undergo tests on his meniscus, but there is a very real possibility that he will need surgery, which would rule him out for at least three months.

That could mean a return to the back line for Aurelien Tchouameni alongside Raul Asencio for the next two months. Jesus Vallejo is not a factor, and with Eder Militao still recovering from a cruciate ligament problem, Ancelotti or whoever is in charge of the Club World Cup may have to improvise once again. David Alaba's status is also uncertain.