Just as soon as he came into the team again and shone brightly against Manchester City in the Champions League knockouts, Ferland Mendy had suffered a right hamstring injury.
Mendy was always going to miss the upcoming fixture against Elche in La Liga this weekend, but now, according to a report from Diario AS, he is going to miss more significant games after that.
He is now expected to be out until after the March international break, meaning the earliest he would return is on April 5 against Mallorca. His injury will cost him the massive fixtures against rivals Atletico Madrid and then Manchester City in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16.
With Alvaro Carreras injured with a calf issue, Real Madrid will have to turn to Fran Garcia for the Atleti game, and he is a huge downgrade on Alvaro and Mendy. They can only hope Carreras is able to return for the Manchester City game, otherwise it will be Fran time again at the Etihad.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.