Another Real Madrid player hurt as injuries continue to mount

Real Madrid were already without Casemiro and Luka Modric. Now they will also have to play without Sergio Ramos.

The central defender has been diagnosed with a knee sprain that he suffered while playing for Spain and will keep him out for a month, furthering weakening a Merengues spine that was already hurting. Now Zinedine Zidane will have to figure out how to right the ship at the Bernabeu with yet another first choice player out.

Real Madrid have drawn four straight matches, a stretch that ended a run of 16 straight wins. That streak equaled the La Liga record and had Real Madrid atop the league, but now they have fallen below Atletico Madrid. Zidane was already being asked questions about the direction of the team and whether he could pull them out of a four-match winless streak. The injuries to Casemiro and Modric were acknowledged as hurdles, but not excuses and it was made clear that Real Madrid expected better regardless of who was out.

The absences of Casemiro and Modric made it difficult on the Merengues to keep teams from running at their back line with pace, getting space on the counter and generally exposing the defense. Casemiro was their hard man, disciplined and good in the tackle to shield the back line. Modric was the man who controlled tempo and space, at least allowing Real Madrid to keep control of the match to minimize the absence of Casemiro. But then they lost both.

Now Real Madrid will have the problem of teams running at their back line, but their back line will be missing their best central defender. Ramos is exceedingly mobile and very smart, not to mention willing to take a yellow card to cut out a would-be chance for the opposition. To lose that, at a time when teams are able to challenge the back line more often than ever, is another problem for Zidane when he really didn't need another problem.

With Ramos out for a month, he will miss four La Liga matches and two in the Champions League. The good news is Athletic Bilbao will be toughest league match in that stretch and the two matches in Europe are against Legia Warsaw. Also, Casemiro and Modric are expected to be back before Ramos is, so Real Madrid won't have to play all of those matches without all three. But just over a month from now, Real Madrid do play Atletico Madrid and Ramos won't have much time to get fit for that crucial contest.

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