Atletico Madrid defensive stalwart Diego Godin was forced to exit last night’s game against Atletic Bilbao with an apparent hamstring injury. He was replaced by Lucas Hernandez after only eleven minutes.
The Los Rojiblancos captain went down under a challenge in the ninth minute of the match and left the field of play. He is not expected to return in time for Atletico Madrid’s home game against Malaga on Saturday. More importantly, he is also a doubt for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich next Wednesday.
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The club reported the injury via their twitter account. While there was no word on the extent of the muscle injury, they did state that the injury was to the right leg.
The Uruguayan did not require assistance to leave the pitch after suffering the injury and opted to sit on the bench and watch the game, easing fears that it is a very serious injury.
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The absence of the 30-year-old Godin will be a huge loss to Atletico as he is a mainstay of their defence and is also an important part of the teams attacking from set-pieces.
The center back has been a victim of constant muscle injuries for more than a year now. He had suffered a similar hamstring injury in March 2015 when he was expected to be out for a month. He made a quick comeback to take part in the Champion League quarter-final against Barcelona on April 5th.
It is suspected that Atletico’s management hurried Godin’s return to the side due to his importance in the team. This decision has come back to bite them as Godin is now expected to be out of action for a prolonged period of time.
Godin’s place in the side will most probably be taken by Lucas Hernandez, the man who replaced him in the match against Atletic Bilbao. With fellow Uruguayan center back, Jose Gimenez is also out recovering from a hamstring injury, this leaves manager Diego Simeone short of options at center back.
Atletico are currently second in La Liga, equal on points with leaders Barcelona. The Catalans are ahead on a better head to head record. The Madrid club are also in the semi-finals of the Champions League where they face Bayern Munich at home on April 27th. Their next fixture in La Liga is against Malaga on Saturday.
