Real Madrid head to England this week to take on Chelsea in the Champions League and defender Raphael Varane has now been ruled out of this second leg.
Varane was taken off at half-time of Madrid’s 2-0 win over Osasuna in La Liga on Saturday but the Spanish side were hopeful that the centre-back will be able to shake off the injury and he fit in time.
On Monday though, the club have officially announced that Raphael Varane has been ruled out of the second leg.
“After the tests carried out today on our player Raphael Varane by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he was diagnosed with an injury to the right adductor muscle,” Real Madrid said in a statement on Monday, as quoted.
This is a massive blow for Zinedine Zidane and his plans to stage a comeback at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday and now the only thing the manager is hoping is that Sergio Ramos can be available for selection.
Real Madrid confirm an adductor injury to Raphael Varane which is set to rule him out of Wednesday’s #UCL semifinal.
Sergio Ramos could return from injury to face Chelsea but has only played 125 minutes for Real Madrid since the middle of January. pic.twitter.com/CmL9iRXwE5
— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 3, 2021
Ramos has not played a game since mid-March so using him against the likes of Pulisic and Werner will also be nothing short of a gamble for Real Madrid.
Nacho and Militao can pair up in central defence when both Raphael Varane and Ramos were not available and we believe this same pairing will take the field in the second leg vs Chelsea as well.
Sergio Ramos could be on the bench but given the importance of the match, it will not be a total surprise to see the manager put him in the starting line-up on Wednesday.
