Marcelo injury update: Marcelo suffered an injury during the Champions League game against Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday night.
Real Madrid are going through a rough patch at the moment. The club is currently 7th in the Spanish league, with only 14 points from 9 matches. R
The Spanish giants faced a stunning defeat in La Liga last weekend as they slumped to a 2-1 loss against Levante at Santiago Bernabeu. This weekend, they face the toughest test in their season so far.
Real Madrid will make a trip to Camp Nou as the season’s first El Clasico will take place on Sunday this week. Barcelona have conveniently returned to winning ways with victories over Sevilla and Inter Milan over the last five days.
However, Barcelona also faced a massive setback when Lionel Messi was ruled out for three weeks after injury against Sevilla. Barca cruised to a convincing 2-0 victory over Inter, but Messi’s absence might trouble the Catalans as they take on Real Madrid.
For Lopetegui, the injury issues are worse. Real Madrid have missed the services of Dani Carvajal and Isco, and Marcelo’s injury against Viktoria Plzen has further deepened the crisis. However, there’s an update on Marcelo.
Marcelo injury update:
The Brazilian defender trained with the rest of the Real Madrid squad on Thursday, and Julen Lopetegui insisted that the injury to Marcelo isn’t muscular.
“It’s only a heavy knock – nothing muscular,” Lopetegui said.
However, Sport reports that Dani Carvajal and Mariano will miss the game against Barcelona.
Marcelo ended Real Madrid’s dismal goalless run against Levante last weekend, but couldn’t prevent a loss. The Los Blancos broke an unwanted record when Lopetegui’s side registered the worst goalless run in the history of the club.
The Brazilian also scored in the Champions League game against Plzen this week.
What next?
The El Clasico will be played on Sunday this week. Barcelona are at the top of the table and will aim to further the gap against their arch-rivals.
Julen Lopetegui, meanwhile, will intend to bring Real Madrid’s campaign back on track and put a halt to speculations over his sacking as manager of the club. It has been reported that Real Madrid have contacted former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte to replace Lopetegui.
