REAL MADRID goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois faces a race against time to be fit for their Champions League tie with Liverpool.
Courtois picked up an adductor injury during the warm-up before Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat to Mallorca on Sunday.
The Real Madrid No1 underwent medical tests on Monday morning.
And, while Madrid were relieved to discover the Belgian’s injury is not serious, he remains a doubt for Los Blancos’ latest Champions League showdown with Liverpool.
Courtois, 30, will miss Madrid’s Club World Cup Campaign which gets underway on Wednesday against Egyptian side Al Ahly.
But he has 15 days to recover for the last-16 first-leg clash against Jurgen Klopp’s Reds at Anfield on February 21.
Read more in football
The return leg between last season’s two finalists will take place in the Spanish capital on March 15.
Real Madrid will have their fingers crossed as they already have major fitness doubt over Karim Benzema and Eder Militao.
It is the second injury of the season for Courtois who was voted the best keeper in the world last year.
Back-up Andriy Lunin stepped in for the shock loss to Mallorca, which allowed Barcelona to open up an eight-point lead at the top of LaLiga.
Most read in Football
HOW TO GET FREE BETS ON FOOTBALL
Boss Carlo Ancelotti said: “It’s a defeat that hurts a lot.
“But it was the game we expected and we prepared for it, a difficult game with a lot of fouls, a lot of stoppages.
“We didn’t play badly, especially in the second half. Conceding early affected us a lot, and we missed a penalty.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
