Liverpool Handed Major Injury Boost Ahead Of Real Madrid Clash

Liverpool have been handed a major injury boost ahead of their clash with Real Madrid on Wednesday after Gareth Bale was ruled out with a buttock injury, according to Sky Sports.

Bale picked up the gluteal muscle problem while playing for Wales during a 2-1 win over Cyprus during the international break last week.

It wasn’t thought to be a serious injury and the 25-year-old was subsequently left on the bench for Madrid’s 5-0 victory over Levante on Saturday as a precaution.

Boss Carlo Ancelotti admitted after the game at the weekend that Bale is struggling with the problem and was to be assessed along with several other players ahead of their trip to Anfield on Wednesday.

“Bale had a problem in his glute.

“He wasn’t comfortable so we preferred to not risk it for this game and we will evaluate it in the next few days. He wasn’t left out due to rotation.

“We now have a few days to evaluate the situation with Bale, Karim Benzema, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos and all those that were out for this game.

“I think we are arriving well into this week. We had a difficult game to prepare here, but we played very well and seriously. We were very concentrated and it all went well.

“Now we have time to, firstly, recover some players, and then think about the game on Wednesday.” Ancelotti is quoted as saying by Sky Sports on Saturday

It appears those assessments have been carried out on Monday morning and revealed the bad news as Sky Sports are reporting that Bale has been ruled out of Madrid’s Champions League clash with Liverpool and is also likely to miss Saturday’s El Clasico with Barcelona.

The news will come as a huge boost to Liverpool as manager Brendan Rodgers prepare’s to welcome the European Champions to Anfield for their crucial Group B encounter.

The Reds currently sit third in the table after a 1-0 defeat to Basel last time out so the Merseysiders desperately needs a positive result on Wednesday to boost their hopes of qualifying to the knockout stages.

Obviously Liverpool will still have to worry about the attacking talents of Ronaldo, Kroos, Rodriquez and possibly Benzema but Bale will be a big miss for the Spaniards, so I’m sure Rodgers is thankful the former Spurs forward won’t be available for selection.