Real Madrid star Alvaro Morata set to miss Atletico Madrid derby with hamstring injury

Real Madrid have confirmed a new injury blow ahead of their forthcoming trip to Atletico Madrid on Saturday (19 November) after Alvaro Morata suffered a grade 2 hamstring injury on international duty with Spain. The Champions League winners have refused to set a timeframe in the recovery but the Spanish international is also expected to miss the following Champions League clash with Sporting Portugal and the La Liga visit to Barcelona on 3 December.

Morata picked up a knock during the World Cup qualifier victory over Macedonia last week, Aritz Aduriz replacing him in the 60<sup>th minute of the game.

However, the Spaniard continued with the national team and even played 26 minutes as a substitute during the 2-2 friendly with England on Tuesday night (15 November).

The former Juventus star looked fully fit at Wembley as he played a major part in his national team comeback to rescue a draw against England. However, on Wednesday night Real Madrid surprisingly revealed that the striker has a hamstring injury which is expected to keep him out of action for crucial coming games against Atletico Madrid and Barcelona.

"After tests carried out on our player Álvaro Morata at the Sanitas La Moraleja University Hospital prior to the training session held today, Wednesday, he has been diagnosed with a grade 2 muscle injury in his right hamstring. His recovery will continue to be assessed," Real Madrid confirmed.

Real Madrid are reportedly furious with Spain for overlooking Morata's original knock against Macedonia. Yet, the national team refuse to accept the blame as they said that the striker continued training with the team the following days without any niggles.

One way or another Morata's injury is a big blow for Real Madrid ahead of the crucial coming fixtures, with the derby against Atletico Madrid coming before the La Liga visit to Barcelona (on 3 December) and two Champions League clashes with Sporting Portugal (22 November) and Borussia Dortmund (7 December). Before the first El Clasico of the season they will have two more games against Sporting de Gijon (26 November) and Cultural Leonesa (30 November).

Morata is expected to miss all those games as both AS and Marca are reporting that he is going to be out of action for around one month.

Toni Kroos is also set to miss most of those games after suffering a foot injury before the international break while Zidane is yet to know whether Karim Benzema, Pepe and Casemiro will be fit to face Atletico Madrid. The club also confirmed on Wednesday that the injured trio continued training separately from the rest of their teammates.

However, Sergio Ramos is expected to return to action after having taken advantage of the recent international break to step up the recovery from his knee injury.