Real Madrid Hit With Fresh Setback: Marcelo Ruled Out for 4 Weeks with Hamstring Tear
Zinedine Zidane's week has gone from bad to worse after news emerged on Friday that first choice Real Madrid left back Marcelo will be out of action for four weeks after tearing his hamstring.
Los Blancos' poor start to the season continued on Wednesday evening as the club slumped to a 1-0 home defeat to Real Betis - the first occasion in 73 matches where Real have failed to score a goal.
And now, matters have gotten even worse for the after Marcelo was forced off the pitch in the 72nd minute during the match. According to Spanish outlet AS, the Brazilian has suffered a grade two tear in his left hamstring that will see him sidelined for four weeks.
As a result, he will miss Champions League matches with both Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund, as well as La Liga encounters with Alaves, Espanyol and Getafe.
After putting Barcelona to the sword in the Spanish Super Cup at the end of summer, the Bernabeu outfit have suffered a mighty fall from grace after last year's heroics. The Madrid club sit seventh in the league with only eight points from five games.
To make matters worse, Barcelona are flying high. The Blaugrana are enjoying unexpected success after Neymar's departure. Without dropping points so far in the campaign, the Catalan club sit on top of the pile with 15 points - and Lionel Messi has scored the same amount of goals (nine) as the entirety of the Real Madrid side combined.
Zidane's men already have a big job to do in order to gain ground on their fierce rivals.
