Real Madrid have received a boost ahead of their next La Liga game against Sevilla, as new signing Arda Guler and veteran David Alaba returned to training. The Turkish midfielder and the Austrian defender had been sidelined with injuries, but they are now close to making their return, and in the case of Guler, his official debut with the club.

Guler, who joined Real Madrid from Fenerbache this summer, had suffered a knee injury in pre-season straining. He had recovered from that setback, but then picked up a thigh strain in late September that kept him out of action for another month. He had been working on his own inside and outside the facilities, but on Thursday he completed part of the training session with his teammates.

Alaba, meanwhile, stayed behind during the international break to recover from his injury, and he also trained on his own on Thursday. He is expected to be ready for the next game against Sevilla at the Sanchez-Pizjuan on Saturday 21 October (6:30pm CET).

The rest of the players available to Carlo Ancelotti worked out alongside Castilla, the club's reserve team, at Real Madrid City. The session kicked off with some warm-up drills and intense rondos combined with fitness work. They then played a series of games on reduced-size pitches.