Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has been dealt a double injury blow as Marcelo and Thibaut Courtois will miss their next two games, as per reports.
Aside from their big win over rivals Barcelona in El Clasico, it’s been a disastrous few weeks for the Spanish giants in terms of results domestically and in Europe.
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They’ve now lost three of their last four games across all competitions, which in turn has allowed Barca to move two points clear at the top of the La Liga table, while Madrid now face a 2-1 deficit to Man City ahead of the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie next week.
With a clash against Eibar to come first as they look to get back to winning ways and remain within striking distance of the Catalan giants, Zidane has received some bad news on the injury front.
As reported by AS, neither Courtois nor Marcelo are expected to feature against Eibar or Man City as they have both picked up muscle injuries, while they are also expected to be doubtful to face Valencia on March 21.
The absence of Courtois will be the bigger blow given his impressive form in recent months, while Ferland Mendy will be expected to come in and replace Marcelo at left-back.
Nevertheless, given the experience and quality between the two of them, it’s a huge double blow ahead of a crucial run of fixtures for Real Madrid, as they look to try and avoid seeing their hopes of winning silverware this season come to an end.
The La Liga title race has been a rollercoaster so far and so perhaps anything could happen with 11 games to go. However, with a huge task ahead of them in Manchester next week, keeping their European dream alive will prove to be difficult, especially now with no Courtois or Marcelo to call upon to keep things tight at the back.