Madrid, May 23 (IANS) Real Madrid central defender Rafael Varene will miss Saturday's Champions League final against cross-town football rivals Atletico Madrid as the result of a hamstring injury he suffered in training.
The club website has confirmed that the French international suffered a Grade-Two injury on his left hamstring. With less than a week to go before the final in Milan, it does not leave Varane with sufficient time to recover, reports Xinhua.
The injury is also just three weeks away from the start of the European Championships and he also faces a race to be fit for France's opening game against Romania on June 10.
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Varene had recently talked about his frustration at only having played a total of five minutes in Real Madrid's Champions League quarter-final and semi-final against Wolfsburg and Manchester City respectively, as chief coach Zinedine Zidane preferred the experienced pairing of Sergio Ramos and Pepe.
In view of this situation, it will be interesting to see if Jose Mourinho, who looks certain to be named as the next coach of Manchester United in the coming days, may be tempted to make an offer for the player he worked with at Real Madrid.
Real Madrid have two other injury worries ahead of the final with Alvaro Arbeloa suffering a knee problem while James Rodriguez has a muscle strain.
--IANS
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