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Thibaut Courtois could miss Real Madrid’s clash against Manchester City

By Ernesto Hernandez

SEVILLA, SPAIN - MARCH 8: (L-R) Joaquin of Real Betis Sevilla, Courtois of Real Madrid during the La Liga Santander match between Real Betis Sevilla v Real Madrid at the Estadio Benito Villamarin on March 8, 2020 in Sevilla Spain (Photo by Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images)
SEVILLA, SPAIN - MARCH 8: (L-R) Joaquin of Real Betis Sevilla, Courtois of Real Madrid during the La Liga Santander match between Real Betis Sevilla v Real Madrid at the Estadio Benito Villamarin on March 8, 2020 in Sevilla Spain (Photo by Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images) /
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The bad news for Real Madrid keeps on coming after latest LaLiga defeat.

Just a week ago things were looking rosy for Real Madrid. They had just beaten Barcelona in the Clasico and jumped up to first place in LaLiga standings.

What a difference a week can make.

Not only did Real Madrid fail to build on their momentum but now they find themselves in the same position pre-Clasico.

Barcelona managed to beat Real Sociedad at home and with Madrid’s tumble at Real Betis, climbed back atop LaLiga.

To add injury to insult, Thibaut Courtois has picked up an injury and may not feature in the return leg at the Etihad against Manchester City.

According to Marca, the Belgian keeper left the Estadio Benito Villamarin limping with an apparent abductor muscle injury. Further tests will determine the severity of the injury as well as an estimated recovery time.

Diario AS report that the tests, which were supposed to be done Monday, have been postponed until Tuesday because the area of the injury had become inflamed. They also believe that the injury will keep Courtois for the next two games.

Meaning that he is definitely out for both the games against Eibar in the league and City in the Champions League.

Real Madrid were already down 2-1 and will be forced to try to come back without their starting keeper. Despite struggling earlier in the year, Courtois has improved drastically and is one of the reasons they are still within striking distance of Barcelona and have a shot in Europe.

Madrid will now have to rely on back-up Alphonse Areola for the next two matches. The French keeper is on-loan from PSG and has played sparingly this season.

Areola last saw action when he started in their 3-4 loss against Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey and has played only three times in the league.

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Barring a miraculous recovery, Areola is likely going to start against Man City. Real Madrid will play that match without both Sergio Ramos and Thibaut Courtois. The difficult task of coming back in that tie has now been made that much more difficult.

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