The team returned to Madrid from Valencia overnight, but the recovery session around noon the next day was led by Team Vice-Captain Ramos. Many people found it hard to get used to, but once they thought of Casillas's injury, they felt even worse.
Real Madrid had indeed suffered quite a few injuries recently.
Casillas's injury was an accident, but it had also been caused to some extent by human factors.
Arbeloa had been giving it his all lately. Carvajal's excellent performances had put him under pressure, so he had been playing desperately hard on the pitch. He had originally intended to clear the ball, but unexpectedly ended up kicking the team's captain in the left hand and fracturing it.
This was truly bad news for Real Madrid. After Casillas's injury, Antonio Adán was the only goalkeeper left in the squad.
Although Adán had performed well in training, he lacked experience in major competitions—and the Champions League was coming up.
More importantly, there was the atmosphere within the team.
Arbeloa was a standard product of Real Madrid's youth academy and had always been a captain there. However, in the dressing room, his relationship with Casillas, Ramos, and the others was not particularly good. There were no major problems between them, but neither was there any real friendship. Their relationship was as indifferent as that between ordinary professional players.
This time, though, Arbeloa had kicked Casillas and fractured his left hand, which had gotten him into trouble. During halftime, Ramos had publicly questioned Arbeloa, asking why he had not pulled his foot back.
Arbeloa explained that he had not done it on purpose, but that was not enough to convince Ramos. Arbeloa should have been able to see Casillas coming out at the time, yet he had still chosen to stick out