Raphael Varane suffers recurrence of hamstring injury in Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Alaves

Real Madrid centre-back Raphael Varane is set for another spell on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of his hamstring injury during Los Blancos' 3-0 win over Alaves on Sunday (2 April). The news is a special blow for the La Liga leaders ahead of a busy month, which will include a El Clasico against Barcelona and the Champions League quarter-finals with Bayern Munich.

Varane, 23, was only returning to action against Alaves following more than a month of the sidelines, having missed six games since picking up the injury in a defeat to Valencia on 22 February.

The France international took advantage of the recent international break to overcome the problem but only lasted 10 minutes against Alaves after suffering a recurrence.

"Varane picked up an injury in the same spot as before," Zinedine Zidane confirmed in the press conference after the game. "He told me he doesn't feel as strong as he did three weeks ago, we'll send him for a scan. I hope it's nothing serious, nor anything psychological. He's had time to recover and he was ready. Before the game he was 100% fit."

The Real Madrid boss is thus sweating on the scans as his side face a decisive month in their battle with Barcelona for the La Liga tile and their hope to revalidate the Champions League title.

The La Liga leaders face two derbies against Leganes and Atletico Madrid this week before their Champions League double tie with Bayern Munich. Furthermore, on 23 April they will receive Barcelona in a game which is expected to be decisive for the title as the Catalans are currently only two points behind Zidane's side in the La Liga table – although Real Madrid still have one game in hand.

Varane is expected to undergo further scans on Monday to address the severity of the new blow but, considering it's a recurrence, he is expected to miss at least the coming trip to Leganes on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Zidane was optimistic about having Fabio Coentrao back in the near future despite the Portuguese left-back has been struggling with different fitness concerns since his summer return from Monaco.

"He's a Real Madrid player and I'm counting on him just like the rest of them. He feels pain from time to time and I don't know if it's mental or something else," the Real Madrid boss said. "He's played a lot of games here, he's won the Champions League and done great things. That's what he has to think about. He's been out with injury for a long time and he's got things that aren't so serious but they're stopping him getting back to 100%. He's a Real Madrid player and I hope he'll be back with us before the end of the season."