Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale could be out for four months after suffering an ankle injury in Real Madrid’s 2-1 win against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday night. According to the scans, the Welshman has damaged the peroneal tendon in his right ankle which will require a surgery and that could keep him on the sidelines for the aforementioned period.
The injury comes at a very unfortunate time for the Los Blancos as they now will have to play a string of crucial matches without one of their most productive and most important player in Bale.
The all important El Clasico at the Camp Nou is one of the fixtures Bale will miss and that can be huge. Real Madrid are currently at the top of the La Liga table with 30 points from their 12 matches, 4 points ahead of Barcelona who are in the 2nd spot. Zinedine Zidane’s men have not lost a game in La Liga and are currently on a run of 5 consecutive victories.
In that stretch, Gareth Bale has been absolutely indispensable scoring twice and providing an assist while creating a plethora of chances for his compatriots. The attacker has so far bagged 5 goals in La Liga with 2 assists. Even in Europe, Real Madrid’s number 11 has been one of their most influential players on the pitch scoring twice and grabbing a single assist to his name.
With Bale out of the squad, the Madrid club will face a tough challenge to keep up their momentum in the league and keep their distance from the Blaugrana. The worst part is that Real’s midfield maestro Tony Kroos is out with a broken toe until January of 2017. Kroos is a player whose absence is easily felt as he is the one who has provided the highest number of assists so far for the team with 6 in the La Liga.
Also, with defender Pepe out injured, Real Madrid has now lost three of their most important first team members heading into the crucial stretch of the season. Barcelona will be determined to take full advantage of the situation and make up ground and even take a lead at the top having already lost twice this season in the League.
The result of the Clasico thus would be key for both the teams and if Barca manage to win the game then Real Madrid would be under immense pressure to perform in every game from then on without having the services of some of their best players.
