Madrid: Gareth Bale will miss Real Madrid’s trip to Sporting Gijon on Saturday and faces a race against time to be fit for Real’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Bale had to be replaced for the final half hour of Madrid’s 2-1 win in Munich on Wednesday after aggravating an ankle injury that saw him miss nearly three months earlier this season.
“He will not be with us tomorrow, that is clear, after that we will see,” Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said on Friday.
“It is a muscular problem, it is where he had his operation.
“When he started to play again it has bothered him.
“It is true that I am concerned. I don’t like to see my players injured and even more so in the final straight of the season.”
Bale has played just 25 times in all competitions this season due to various injuries and suspension.
Zidane is expected to make a series of changes from the side that started in Munich with the second leg in mind.
Two-goal hero in midweek Cristiano Ronaldo could be rested, whilst Pepe and Raphael Varane are also absent due to injury.
Real have made a positive start to a huge April with Barcelona also visiting the Santiago Bernabeu next weekend.
Zidane’s men have opened up a three-point lead over Barca at the top of the table and have a game still in hand.
Meanwhile, they remain on course to become the first team to retain the Champions League in 27 years.
“I think it is the DNA of this club, the more difficult the matches, the more the players respond,” added Zidane.
“We are all happy when the end of the season arrives with important matches.”
Barcelona boss Luis Enrique, however, insisted he made no tactical errors in his side’s 3-0 defeat to Juventus and talked up Barca’s chances of another stunning Champions League revival Friday.
The Spanish champions suffered back-to-back defeats at Malaga and Juventus in the past week to severely damage their hopes of winning La Liga or the Champions League.
However, having overcome a 4-0 first-leg deficit to beat Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16, Enrique is convinced Barca still have a shot at another miraculous comeback when the sides meet for their quarter-final return leg on Wednesday.
“If I wasn’t able to get across to my players how I wanted them to play, I am responsible, but in the tactical planning for Turin I didn’t make any mistakes,” said Enrique, who will step down as coach at the end of the season.
“I don’t doubt the team will have chances to turn the tie around, in fact it is easier than against PSG.”
Barca will be without the suspended Neymar for Real Sociedad’s visit on Saturday as he begins a three-game ban for sarcastically applauding the officials after receiving the first red card of his Barca career at Malaga last weekend.
However, the Catalans have no room for error as they trail Real Madrid by three points at the top of La Liga, having played a game more than their title rivals.
Madrid also host Barca in El Clasico next weekend.
“Everything depends on getting back on the road to victory against Real Sociedad and then we will see what happens in the Champions League,” he added.
“We need the points as a morale boost to continue fighting for La Liga.”
And Enrique called on the fans at the Camp Nou not to pick out those they feel were responsible for Barca’s collapse in Turin in midweek.
“If they need to boo players, my advice would be to wait until the end of the season,” he said.
“In this situation I only see the need to rebel and fight against all the adversity.”
