Real Madrid will be without their best defender for most of February as Antonio Rüdiger deals with a new hamstring injury.
Injuries have decimated Real Madrid's backline this season and things just got even worse for the defending Spanish and European champions. Rüdiger has now joined Éder Militão and Dani Carvajal on the sidelines after sustaining an injury to the biceps femoris in his right leg against Espanyol.
The Germany international was the leader of Carlo Ancelotti's makeshift defense. Rüdiger started all but two of Real Madrid's 36 matches across all competitions this season. He routinely logged 90 minutes as well due to the team's defensive injury woes.
Now, Real Madrid must survive without the 31-year-old in their biggest matches of the season coming up.
JOIN SI SOCCER'S REAL MADRID WHATSAPP COMMUNITY - GET ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND ANALYSIS STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE
How Many Games Will Antonio Rudiger Miss for Real Madrid?
Antonio Rüdiger will miss at least four matches for Real Madrid. Most notably, the defender will be unavailable for the Madrid derby on Feb. 8 and the first leg of the Champions League knockout phase playoffs against Manchester City on Feb. 11.
The center back will also be sidelined for Real Madrid's Copa del Rey fixture against Leganes on Feb. 5, as well as their La Liga clash with Osasuna on Feb. 15. He remains a doubt for the second leg against City at the Santiago Bernabéu on Feb. 19.
Without Rüdiger, Ancelotti is down to just a recently recovered David Alaba, 21-year-old Real Madrid Castilla product Raúl Asencio and natural midfielder, Aurélien Tchouaméni at center back.
READ THE LATEST REAL MADRID NEWS, PREVIEWS, PREDICTIONS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MORE
This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Many Games Will Antonio Rudiger Miss for Real Madrid?.
