Real Madrid learn extent of Lucas Vazquez injury
By Tom Gott
Real Madrid are braced to be without the versatile Luas Vazquez for around six weeks after he suffered an ankle injury against Valencia.
The 31-year-old, who is used almost exclusively as a right-back these days, started the Supercopa semi-final but was forced off with 20 minutes to go after appearing to turn his ankle, with Dani Carvajal brought on in his place despite concerns over his own fitness.
Real Madrid lost Eduardo Camavinga to injury at half-time, while Eder Militao also left with a head issue five minutes after Vazquez was forced off.
Marca state that Militao's substitution was purely precautionary and he is not expected to miss any action, with Camavinga's issue also only thought to be minor, but there are more concerns over Vazquez.
A club statement read: "After the tests carried out on our player Lucas Vazquez by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a sprain of the tibiofibular syndesmosis of his right ankle. Evolution pending."
Reports state that Vazquez is likely to be sidelined for around six weeks which, if true, would see his miss a whopping ten games across all competitions.
Listen now as Scott Saunders hosts Graeme Bailey, Toby Cudworth and Tom Gott in the latest episode of Talking Transfers. This week they discuss Chelsea’s hectic transfer strategy, which includes a loan move for Joao Felix and interest in Romeo Lavia and Marcus Thuram among others, Man Utd’s pursuit of Burnley striker Wout Weghorst, Leandro Trossard’s Brighton future and more. Available on all audio platforms.
If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
Crucially, Vazquez appears set to miss the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Liverpool on February 21, while a Madrid derby against Atletico is also on the agenda five days later.
Carlo Ancelotti is currently dealing with a number of injury problems. David Alaba and Aurelien Tchouameni were both left out of the Supercopa squad that travelled to Saudi Arabia and have instead remained in Madrid for treatment, while both Carvajal and Ferland Mendy are just returning from their own injury issues.