Real Madrid made an announcement concerning injuries to goalkeeper Keylor Navas and forward Gareth Bale after their recent Champions League semi-final against Manchester City. Los Blancos sealed a berth in the final with a 1-0 aggregate win – the club’s second final in three years – against arch rivals Atletico Madrid.
But the two players could miss out the weekend’s La Liga match against Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Both players completed the full 90 minutes of the game but the club announced that Navas suffered an Achilles tendon injury. The Costa Rican goalkeeper required treatment on the pitch after he had made a clearance outside the box to prevent Sergio Aguero from going through on goal.
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Meanwhile, Bale is said to have picked up a knee injury. The club statement said: “After tests carried out on our player Gareth Bale, a muscle strain in his right knee has been detected.”
While Bale could be ruled out of the Valencia game, the club hope to have him back for the final league game against Deportivo de La Coruna. Dani Carvajal is also expected to miss the Valencia game with Danilo set to take his spot in the lineup.
The club also released a statement on Navas’s injury, stating: “After tests carried out on our player Keylor Navas, an Achilles tendon issue has been diagnosed in his left foot.”
Benzema and Casemiro return to squad
Real Madrid are currently a point behind leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in the La Liga title race. And manager Zinedine Zidane will want to have both players fit and raring to go as soon as possible to win an unlikely league title should their rivals drop points.
The Champions League final is scheduled for May 28 – two weeks after the end of the league season and the French boss will hope to have all players fit for the big derby in Milan.
However, Zidane will have Karim Benzema and Casemiro back in the squad. The duo missed out on the semi-final after sustaining injuries in the previous game.
“Benzema and Casemiro completed a session with the group in which ball work took centre stage,” the club statement read. “Keylor Navas, Bale and Carvajal worked in the indoor facilities.”
19-year-old striker Borja Mayoral was also called up for the training session with the senior team.
“Zidane again called on the Real Madrid Castilla striker Borja Mayoral for the training session, which kicked off with a series of warm-up exercises. These were followed by various possession and pressuring drills, before finishing off with crossing and shooting.”
