Rodrygo’s road back from injury remains long, with reporting from Diario AS indicating the Brazilian forward isn’t expected to feature competitively for Real Madrid again until early 2027. Some trackers now put an estimated return date around January 31, 2027 — a timeline that keeps sliding as the club takes a cautious approach to his recovery.
The Getafe nightmare
The injury happened on March 2, 2026, in a La Liga match at Getafe. Rodrygo came on as a second-half substitute and played out the remaining minutes despite picking up the injury, in a game Real Madrid went on to lose 1-0. Scans afterward confirmed the worst outcome: a complete ACL rupture combined with a tear to the lateral meniscus in his right knee.
He underwent surgery on March 10 under Dr. Manuel Leyes. Because of the dual nature of the damage, his medical team settled on an extended recovery window of roughly 10 to 12 months rather than the more typical six-to-eight-month ACL timeline.
A brutal year to miss
The timing could barely have been worse. Rodrygo missed Real Madrid’s biggest fixtures down the stretch of 2025/26, including Champions League ties against Manchester City and Bayern Munich and the season’s decisive Clásico. Most painfully, it also cost him a place in Brazil’s 2026 World Cup squad.
Speaking to AS during his rehab, Rodrygo has described his mood as improving day by day, while stressing how much patience the process demands — some days easier than others, but overall trending in a positive direction.
What early 2027 actually means
With the injury ruling him out for the entire first half of the 2026/27 season, Rodrygo won’t be part of Mourinho’s plans until well into the new year at the earliest — and even that assumes no setbacks in a rehab that has already been pushed back from initial estimates. Before going down, he’d managed three goals and six assists in 27 appearances during what was already a difficult individual season.
There’s an added layer of uncertainty here too: reports out of the club suggest Mourinho isn’t fully sold on Rodrygo as a first-choice option, which means his return will double as an audition. He’ll effectively have the second half of the season to prove his fit in the new setup.
RMxtra Verdict
Rodrygo’s case is also part of a bigger, uglier pattern — this is now the sixth serious ACL-related injury to hit Real Madrid’s squad in three seasons, following Thibaut Courtois, Éder Militão (twice), David Alaba, and Dani Carvajal. For a club investing heavily in a new era under Mourinho, keeping players fit may end up mattering just as much as who they sign.