Real Madrid receive Trent Alexander-Arnold injury diagnosis: El Clasico in doubt | OneFootball

Real Madrid were hit early on in their Champions League debut against Olympique Marseille by the loss of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who went down holding the back of his thigh. The 26-year-old is battling for his place with captain Dani Carvajal, but will now face a spell on the sidelines early on his career at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Alexander-Arnold’s gestures appeared to show a hamstring injury, and he was taken off after four minutes. Manager Xabi Alonso declared that the injury was not as bad as first feared, but Alexander-Arnold will face significant time out of action.

Alexander-Arnold in doubt for El Clasico

Initially Diario AS reported that Alexander-Arnold’s absence would be just three weeks, but they have updated their report to match that of Marca, which says that the England international will be out for six to eight weeks with a hamstring tear. It is the different of a grade two or a grade three tear. It means that Alexander-Arnold will likely be out until at least November, if not into the international break in the middle of that month.

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Which games will Alexander-Arnold miss?

It seems likely that Alexander-Arnold will miss at least eight games between now and the end of October. The headline clashes he will be absent for are the Madrid derby away to Atletico Madrid, and El Clasico at home to Barcelona. Those eight fixtures are as follows: Espanyol (H), Levante (A), Atletico Madrid (A), Kairat Almaty (A), Villarreal (H), Getafe (A), Juventus (H) and Barcelona (H).

The 26-year-old will then face a battle to be back for Los Blancos trip to his boyhood club, Liverpool, at Anfield on the fourth of November. That would perhaps be the best-case scenario, but he is in danger of missing Valencia (H) the weekend before, and Rayo Vallecano (A) the weekend after.

Xabi Alonso’s options

The injury will likely see Real Madrid rely on captain Dani Carvajal for the most part in Alexander-Arnold’s absence; the two had been splitting game time thus far. However Xabi Alonso will not want to put too much strain on the 33-year-old, who is coming off a cruciate ligament injury.

Carvajal will be rested for their European ties though, as he awaits the verdict of his suspension. Against at least Kairat and Juventus, Alonso will likely have to turn to Raul Asencio, Fede Valverde or youngster Jesus Fortea.