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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Ben Hayward

Thibaut Courtois doubtful for Liga start as Real Madrid injury crisis worsens

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is doubtful for the start of La Liga after sustaining a sprained ankle.

"Following the tests carried out by the Real Madrid medical department on our player Thibaut Courtois, he has been diagnosed with a grade 2 sprain to his left ankle," Los Blancos said on their website on Monday afternoon. "His recovery will continue to be assessed."

Courtois played the first half of Friday night's 7-3 loss to Atletico Madrid in New Jersey and conceded five goals before he was replaced at the interval by Keylor Navas.

The injury means the Belgian is now a doubt for Madrid's opening league game of the season, away to Celta Vigo on August 17.

Zinedine Zidane's side are now without a number of players through injury, with Luka Jovic, Brahim Diaz, Ferland Mendy and Marco Asensio all sidelined.

Jovic limped off against Atletico with an ankle problem, while Mendy picked up a thigh injury in the 3-1 loss to Bayern Munich the previous weekend, Asensio ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the 2-2 draw versus Arsenal and Brahim is out with a hamstring issue.

Asensio's is the only long-term injury, with the midfielder likely to be sidelined for most of the 2019-20 campaign, but the growing list of casualties will be a cause of concern for Zidane with the season not even under way yet.

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