Real Madrid vs. Inter Milan: Los Blancos could receive major boost for Champions League opener

Real Madrid could have key midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni available for Tuesday's Champions League contest with Inter Milan.

Tchouameni is yet to feature for Real Madrid this season due to a thigh issue, again missing out against Real Betis at the end of last week.

However, according to AS, there is a chance that the midfielder will be in the squad for Real Madrid's Champions League contest with Inter.

A start is seen as almost impossible given his lack of action this season, but minutes off the bench are seemingly likely due to his recovery.

Tchouameni has now trained on Sunday and Monday, and he is free from the pain which meant that he was unable to feature early in the campaign.

Real Madrid vs. Inter: Tchouameni winning battle to be fit for Champions League contest

Arda Guler, Bernardo Silva and Eduardo Camavinga are all suspended for the Inter fixture due to cards that they picked up during their last matches of the 2025-26 Champions League.

Jude Bellingham is expected to feature in the middle of the midfield alongside Federico Valverde in the European fixture with the Italian giants.

Real Madrid will be looking to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat to Real Betis in La Liga when they take to the field in front of their own fans.

"I want to win. I could tell you I want to play well, but I don’t want to play well like we did against Betis and lose; I want to win," Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho told reporters.

"We are in a phase where we play eight matches, and the goal is to qualify, and I believe we will. But I want to think about this match as a unique game and not that we will have seven more. I want to win.

Mourinho desperate for win in Champions League opener

“I’ve seen the players as I like to see them - exhausted in the locker room in Seville after the match, fairly recovered in Sunday’s training, and today perfectly normal.

"After analysing the game we played, we are increasingly convinced that we played a good match, we played as a team, and the goals we missed were an anomaly.

"We are fine. Obviously, we have known issues for tomorrow’s match, but that’s it. We are going to play, compete, and aim to win.

“At the Bernabeu, I’ve won a Champions League, and I’ve lost a semi-final on penalties. I’ve experienced the best and the worst in this stadium, but I’m not thinking about that, neither the positives nor the negatives.

"I’m focused on being the coach of Real Madrid and on tomorrow’s Champions League match. It’s not an ultra-important match because it doesn’t decide anything - it’s not a knockout game, nor is it a group stage like before with four teams.

"There are seven matches, and I believe both we and Inter will qualify. I see a great possibility for Madrid and Inter in the future, once things start to get very serious. Tomorrow’s match is just one of those games where every point matters, and surely a top team like Inter will come looking for their points, just as we will try to do.”

Real Madrid will also take on Roma, RB Leipzig, AEK Athens, PSV Eindhoven, Arsenal, LASK Linz and Shakhtar Donetsk in the league stage of the Champions League.