Sergio Ramos suffers injury ahead of Liverpool, Barcelona showdown

Real Madrid CF captain Sergio Ramos has suffered yet another major setback. Just weeks after returning to competitive action following a knee surgery, he has now suffered a calf injury while on international duty.

Real Madrid shared the bad news on Thursday, confirming that the captain is sidelined once more. The statement on the club's website read: "Following the tests carried out today on our captain, Sergio Ramos, by the Real Madrid medical department, he has been diagnosed with a muscular injury to the internal calf in his left leg. His recovery will be monitored."

Unfortunately, the latest knock comes just before a series of very crucial games for Los Blancos. They will be facing Eibar on Saturday in La Liga, and while Eibar may not seem to be a big team to worry about, every game is now crucial in the title race if they want to catch Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona who are ahead of them on the table.

On April 6, Real Madrid will then face Liverpool FC in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. It is a much awaited rematch of the 2018 final, which was the last time that Real Madrid won the title.

After that, they will be facing Barcelona in La Liga's second El Clasico of the season before facing Liverpool again for the second leg. Needless to say, it will be a series of very crucial matches in the upcoming two weeks.

Ramos himself took to social media to talk about the situation.

"The truth is that I've had a tough few weeks," he said. "Surgery is always a sporting and emotional break. Fortunately, for a few days now I've been feeling better but in football and in life, bad luck also plays a role. After yesterday's game, I stayed on to do some work on the pitch and I felt a pinch in my left calf," he explained.

"What hurts most is not being able to help the team in these vital games of the season and not being able to give something back on the pitch for all the love and energy you send me. All I can do is speak frankly, work hard and support the team with my soul."

Ramos will also be disappointed to be missing out on crucial games that might help the course of the negotiations of his contract extension. He is out of contract at the end of the season and Real Madrid won't be too keen on keeping an expensive player that is mostly sidelined due to fitness issues.