Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 5y

Real Madrid gloom deepens as keeper Courtois suffers muscle injury

Real Madrid's injury worries have deepened after goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois suffered a pelvic muscle injury.

Courtois, 26, who played the 90 minutes in Sunday's defeat to Real Sociedad, joins Toni Kroos, Gareth Bale, Marco Asensio, Marcos Llorente and Mariano Diaz on the sidelines.

A Madrid statement said the Belgium international had undergone tests but did not specify a potential recovery time.

"Following tests carried out on our player Thibaut Courtois by the Real Madrid medical services, he has been diagnosed with a Grade I injury in the left iliac muscle," the statement said. "His recovery will be monitored."

Costa Rica international Keylor Navas, reportedly unsettled at the Bernabeu, is now set to get the chance to reclaim the starting spot.

Coach Santiago Solari was always likely to bring him in for Wednesday's Copa del Rey game at home to Leganes amid squad rotation.

The Madrid squad for the round-of-16 first leg also includes Brahim Diaz, with the injury crisis meaning the 18-year-old could make his debut just 48 hours after being presented following his arrival from Manchester City.

Madrid could face nine games across La Liga and the Copa del Rey during a hectic January, with their year having begun badly with only one point from two games against Villarreal and Sociedad.

Club captain Sergio Ramos called a squad meeting at training on Monday, while Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett told ESPN FC that reports his client was in trouble for leaving the Bernabeu uring the Sociedad defeat were a "load of rubbish."

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