Sergio Ramos is a major fitness doubt for Real Madrid's crucial fixtures against Liverpool and Barcelona due to a muscle injury in his left calf.
Doubts over the fitness of Los Blancos' talismanic captain, who has recently been contending with a knee issue, were raised after he was an unused substitute in Spain's 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over Georgia and only played the final few minutes of the follow up 3-1 triumph against Kosovo on Wednesday.
Ramos was at Madrid's Valdebebas training complex on Thursday but was restricted to doing work in the gym and not out on the pitches.
As usual, Madrid did not provide a timescale for his recovery but a short statement read: "Following the tests carried out today on our captain, Sergio Ramos, by the Real Madrid medical department, he has been diagnosed with a muscular injury to the internal calf in his left leg. His recovery will be monitored."
The timing could hardly be worse for Madrid, who host Eibar in LaLiga on Saturday before facing off against Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.
Barca travel to the capital a week on Saturday for a Clasico that could go a long way to deciding which side are better placed to challenge LaLiga leaders Atletico Madrid, while the return tie against the Reds takes place on April 14.
The omens are not particularly promising for Madrid against Liverpool considering Los Blancos have been beaten in seven of the past 10 games in the Champions League when Ramos has been unavailable.
In those games, they have conceded 19 goals – an average of 1.9 per match. Since last winning the competition in 2018, Madrid have won 10 of the 14 games Ramos has featured in – conceding only 13, an average of 0.9 per game.
The decision to bring Ramos on in those closing stages against Kosovo is sure to be a bone of contention for Madrid, with the skipper posting about his setback on Instagram.
"Yesterday, after the game, I was training on the pitch and noticed a puncture in the left calf. Today I have had the tests and it has been confirmed that I have a muscle injury," he wrote.
"If there is one thing that hurts me it is not being able to help the team in these games of the highest demand in which we play the season and also not be able to give back on the pitch the love and energy that you transmit to me.
"I can do nothing but speak frankly, work hard and encourage the team with the soul."
Ramos' future beyond the end of the season has been the subject of much debate in recent weeks, with the veteran centre-back linked with moves to MLS, the Premier League and Ligue 1.
Addressing the speculation after Spain's win over Kosovo, Ramos told TVE: "With my future I was very clear, there is no news and now I have nothing to say.
"When there is news, I will be the first to say it.
"We decide the season in two weeks, in LaLiga against Eibar and Barcelona, and in the Champions League against Liverpool, and hopefully we can play at a good level."
Antony ‘unlikely’ to feature in FA Cup final as Man Utd suffer further setback
Manchester United have been hit by a setback for Antony ahead of the FA Cup final, with Erik ten Hag saying it is “unlikely” the winger will be fit to face Manchester City.
The 23-year-old winger went down in agony last Thursday during the first half of the penultimate Premier League game of the season against Chelsea.
Antony left on a stretcher and Ten Hag feared a “serious” injury, only to allay concerns three days later by saying the “first assessment is not too bad” and that he had a “good opportunity” to face City.
But this week has not gone as well as expected and the Brazil international now looks set to miss the first ever all-Manchester FA Cup final.
“Unlikely (he will be fit),” he said. “Dos Santos (Antony) still has a chance but it’s a really small chance.
“He didn’t make the progress, so he still has a chance but unlikely he is available.”
Lisandro Martinez, Marcel Sabitzer and Donny van de Beek have long since been ruled out of the final, while Anthony Martial’s injury-hit season will end on the sidelines.
The 27-year-old strained a hamstring towards the end of Sunday’s win against Fulham and will miss the Wembley showdown after scans showed a muscle tear.
“These questions so many times about the absence of players in the last couple of months,” Ten Hag said.
“Every time I say the same answer: it’s about the players who are available and many times we were successful.
“We have a good squad and from that good squad we make a good team.”
Absentee-hit United wrapped up third spot last weekend and are looking to complete the domestic cup double for the first time, having lifted the Carabao Cup in February.
View this post on InstagramTen Hag says Saturday will be a “good test” against Premier League champions City, who are looking to take another step towards the treble by winning at Wembley.
United fans are desperate for their side to extinguish those dreams as Pep Guardiola’s men look to replicate Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1999 treble heroes.
“We want to win, we want to win a cup,” Ten Hag said. “It’s not about stopping them. It is about that we win, that we win the cup. We have a great opportunity.
“That’s great that we deserved that opportunity to be in the cup final and then meet Man City. That’s a great opportunity.
“We fought so hard for it. I think we progressed that well that we are in that FA Cup final.”
City won this season’s first meeting 6-3 at the Etihad Stadium, with United coming back to win 2-1 at Old Trafford in January.
Ten Hag’s Red Devils finished 14 points behind the Premier League winners and a big summer lies ahead as they look to launch a sustained title challenge.
View this post on Instagram“I think they do a very good job,” the Dutchman said days after Ferguson named Guardiola as LMA Manager of the Year – a trophy that carries the United great’s name.
“They play very good football, so they deserve it.
“Of course I look at others because they are opponents and I evaluate it, but we look to ourselves.
“You have to see where you are as club. From thereon, you have to make progress and I think we did over the last season.
“We make very good progress, we are in a good direction and now we use the coming period as well.
“Now we get the opportunity in the summer to make new targets, new goals on the short term.
“But the longer term, yeah, that will stay the same. As I said last year, we want to restore Man United but we have a way to go.”
Ange Postecoglou speculation not causing Celtic to lose focus – Matt O’Riley
Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley insists it will not be difficult to remain focused on the Scottish Cup final amid growing speculation over the future of manager Ange Postecoglou.
Postecoglou has become the odds-on favourite to take over at Tottenham with one report claiming he will meet Spurs chairman Daniel Levy on Monday.
The Celtic manager batted away questions over his future on Thursday as he bids to avoid distractions ahead of Saturday’s Hampden clash with Inverness and O’Riley claims the players will not be sidetracked.
“It’s not hard, to be honest,” the 22-year-old said. “There is always so much noise in football. Even with players, with managers, all sorts.
“There is a lot of stuff in the media all the time but I personally don’t believe most of the things I see, just because I know how football works.
“I’m sure he is very happy where he is because we are doing very well.
“It’s just part of football. Media-wise, there is always something going on and I’m sure there will always be the odd surprise that gets thrown in, someone leaves that you don’t expect, someone joins that comes out of nowhere. You just have to be ready for whatever comes.”
Postecoglou has been linked with numerous Premier League jobs throughout the season and Celtic have shown the focus to stay on course for a treble.
“It comes from, first of all, the hierarchy, the manager and staff setting the foundation of what can we do today to improve and taking it day by day,” O’Riley said.
“If you think too much about the future or stuff that has happened before, that’s when problems start to occur because you are probably in your head a bit too much.
“As long as we are focused on the day-to-day basics of trying to improve one another then I don’t think it should be a problem.”
However, the former MK Dons midfielder understands why many Celtic fans are anxious about the future amid the growing speculation over Postecoglou.
“He has provided so much success to the club, and hopefully that continues, and naturally fans are attached to someone who brings so much success,” he said.
“The same goes for the players in the group right now, everyone had good seasons for the most part, so naturally there is going to be interest in players, but hopefully we can keep as many together and push on even more next season.”
Lydia Bedford takes Brentford Under-18s reins in landmark appointment for women
Lydia Bedford has been announced as Brentford Under-18s head coach in a landmark appointment.
Bedford has left her position as assistant boss with Arsenal’s women team to become the first female coach to take the reins at a men’s professional side in England.
The former Leicester manager is set to work alongside Jon-Paul Pittman, who will join as assistant coach from Forest Green.
Brentford director of football Phil Giles said: “I’m really pleased that we’ve managed to attract such talented coaches as Lydia and Jon-Paul to our under-18 team for next year.
“We undertook an extensive recruitment process for these roles. Lydia and Jon-Paul were the two best candidates, and thankfully we were able to finalise their recruitment to the staff.
“I’m sure they will excel, and we all look forward to working with them through pre-season and beyond.”
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