Injured Varane out for up to a month

Real Madrid’s French defender Raphael Varane looks on during the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on October 28, 2018. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)

The 25-year old left the field after 45 minutes in the club’s 5-1 defeat to Barcelona on Sunday.

“He’s been diagnosed with a groin injury to his right leg,” Real said in a statement without noting how long the French international would be out for.

AS said he would be sidelined for up to a month, meaning he could miss France’s games in November against the Netherlands and possibly Uruguay.

He will also miss Real’s fixtures against Melilla in the Spanish Cup on Wednesday, Saturday’s league match against Valladolid, and the midweek trip to Victoria Plzen in the Champions League. He will also be out for the following weekend league match against Vigo.

Real also announced an injury to striker Mariano Diaz with AS reporting he will be out for 10 days.

The injuries come as a blow to Real’s interim head coach Santiago Solari, who was appointed on Tuesday following the sacking of Julen Lopetegui.

Without Varane the Argentinian lacks a multitude of options and is likely to choose a centre-back partnership of Sergio Ramos and Nacho Fernandez.

Champions League holders Rea need to regain some confidence after losing five of their last seven games, a run of poor results that led to the sacking of Lopetegui, just four and a half months into his tenure.