This past weekend, Real Madrid announced that defender Dean Huijsen had suffered a calf injury which ruled him out of the game against Osasuna, which the team ended up losing.
It was suggested that he could be out for five days, and the expectation was that the 20-year-old Spanish international would be back in training this week, in time to face SL Benfica in the UEFA Champions League.
Huijsen not ready to return
However, according to a new update from Javi Herraez on Carrusel, Huijsen is pretty much ruled out of the game against Benfica later this week.
The Merengues host the Portuguese giants at the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League knockout playoff on Wednesday night.
Still sidelined. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
Huijsen was not part of the training session today, and as things stand, it is not expected that he could make his comeback in time for Benfica’s visit to the Spanish capital later in the week.
In that case, manager Alvaro Arbeloa could set up with the centre-back partnership of Raul Asencio, who missed the first leg with suspension, and Antonio Rudiger, who was surprisingly benched for the weekend game against Osasuna.
As for Huijsen, Real Madrid will hope to have him back for the weekend La Liga encounter against Getafe, when another injured player, Rodrygo, could also make his return.
So far this season, Huijsen, who arrived from AFC Bournemouth last June in a deal worth €58 million, has made 27 appearances across all competitions. He has scored one goal and assisted two more.