The German midfielder was substituted for Asier Illarramendi midway through the first half, making him a doubt for the Champions League decider against Juventus
Real Madrid's midfield crisis continued as Toni Kroos was forced off with a back injury against Valencia on Saturday, making him a major doubt to face Juventus in their Champions League semi-final decider.
The Germany international has been a constant figure in the Blancos' first team, starting all but two of their Liga matches since joining from Bayern Munich last summer, but only lasted 25 minutes against los Che before landing awkwardly in a challenge and being replaced by Asier Illarramendi.
Carlo Ancelotti could now potentially be without him for Madrid's crucial European clash with Juve on Wednesday in which they trail 2-1 after the first leg in Turin.
Ancelotti has already been forced to play Sergio Ramos in an unorthodox midfield role due to Luka Modric's injury - though he reverted to a 4-3-3 to push the Spaniard back into defence against Valencia - and Kroos' absence is likely to exacerbate the reigning European champions' woes.
Shortly after Kroos was withdrawn from the action at the Santiago Bernabeu, Javi Fuego added to Paco Alcacer's opener to leave Madrid's La Liga hopes hanging in the balance.
Barcelona's 2-0 victory over Real Sociedad earlier in the day left Madrid needing a victory to ensure they do not fall five points behind in the title race with just two games remaining, but they were only able to match Valencia's two goals and now look certain to lose out to Luis Enrique's men.
Madrid's task of overturning their first-leg deficit to Juve has already been made more difficult following the return to action of Paul Pogba, who scored in an hour-long cameo in the Serie A champions' draw with Cagliari earlier on Saturday.
The Germany international has been a constant figure in the Blancos' first team, starting all but two of their Liga matches since joining from Bayern Munich last summer, but only lasted 25 minutes against los Che before landing awkwardly in a challenge and being replaced by Asier Illarramendi.
Carlo Ancelotti could now potentially be without him for Madrid's crucial European clash with Juve on Wednesday in which they trail 2-1 after the first leg in Turin.
Ancelotti has already been forced to play Sergio Ramos in an unorthodox midfield role due to Luka Modric's injury - though he reverted to a 4-3-3 to push the Spaniard back into defence against Valencia - and Kroos' absence is likely to exacerbate the reigning European champions' woes.
Shortly after Kroos was withdrawn from the action at the Santiago Bernabeu, Javi Fuego added to Paco Alcacer's opener to leave Madrid's La Liga hopes hanging in the balance.
Barcelona's 2-0 victory over Real Sociedad earlier in the day left Madrid needing a victory to ensure they do not fall five points behind in the title race with just two games remaining, but they were only able to match Valencia's two goals and now look certain to lose out to Luis Enrique's men.
Madrid's task of overturning their first-leg deficit to Juve has already been made more difficult following the return to action of Paul Pogba, who scored in an hour-long cameo in the Serie A champions' draw with Cagliari earlier on Saturday.
0 comments:
Post a Comment