Real Madrid suffer injury blow ahead of Liverpool clash

Real Madrid could be forced to make do without midfielder Federico Valverde for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final with Liverpool.

The Uruguay international has endured a testing campaign with injuries, but after seemingly recovering from his latest muscular problem, he played the full 90 minutes in Saturday’s victory against Celta Vigo.

However, Marca reports that Valverde has now experienced some discomfort in his lower leg, and that injury could potentially keep him sidelined for the next fortnight.

As a result, the 22-year-old’s participation against Liverpool on April 6 is in doubt, but Zinedine Zidane will be able to welcome back Casemiro, who missed the second leg victory over Atalanta through suspension.

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If Valverde is cleared to play and picks up a booking, he will be forced to miss the second leg, while left-back Ferland Mendy is also one yellow card away from a suspension.

Valverde has bagged three goals and one assist in 25 appearances for Los Blancos across all competitions this term, but he has only made the starting lineup on 10 occasions in La Liga.