One can argue that the September international break has come at quite an opportune time for Real Madrid. The Merengues lost the first derby of the season , which was the last game before the start of the break, and being away from the field for the next three weeks would allow the club and the team to reflect on their shortcomings in this first stretch of the season and to come up with solutions to their problems.

However, Jose Mourinho will remain without most of his players during this time. As Diario AS has noted, up to 14 Real Madrid players have been called up by their respective national teams for this international break, and only 11 players will remain at Valdebebas during the next three weeks.

Of the 14 players called up, 10 will be playing for European sides. France, with the Merengue legend Zinedine Zidane now in charge, have the most Real Madrid players in their squad, as Kylian Mbappe, Ibrahima Konate, and Eduardo Camavinga have all been called up. Aurelien Tchouameni has not been called up, and he will use this time to do the work he was unable to do during the preseason because of his physical issues.

Spain have called up two Merengue players, Dean Huijsen and Marc Cucurella, and England another two, Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Bernardo Silva, Arda Guler, and Denzel Dumfries have been called up by Portugal, Turkiye, and the Netherlands respectively.

Brahim Diaz and Yan Diomande will be playing for Morocco and Ivory Coast respectively, and will be looking to help their teams qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations. Meanwhile, Endrick and Vinicius Junior will report to Carlo Ancelotti and join the Brazilian national team. Federico Valverde has not been called up by Uruguay because of an ankle injury suffered during the derby.

Thus, Tchouameni, Valverde, Courtois, Lunin, Rudiger, Asensio, Carreras, Thiago, Militao, Mendy, and Rodrygo remain the players who will be present at Valdebebas for the next three weeks. However, the last three will continue working on their recoveries, while Mourinho will have to work with the rest of the eight players and find a way out of his current problems at Real Madrid.