Image: APA/Mill
The thigh injury that David Alaba suffered in the middle of the first half in Real Madrid’s Champions League round of 16 first leg in Liverpool (5: 2 for the “White Ballet”) is likely to be more serious than originally thought.
A muscle injury in the distal third of the right biceps femoris was diagnosed in a 30-year-old man from Vienna. Although his club did not provide any information on downtime, the Spanish media spoke of a break of around one month.
Alaba is therefore missing in the important matches against city rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday and against FC Barcelona (both in the cup and in the league), the return match against Liverpool is also not an issue.
The start of the European Championship qualification for the 2026 finals in Germany is also marked with a big question mark. For Austria’s team captain, the duels with Azerbaijan (March 24) and Estonia (March 27) in the brand new Raiffeisen Arena in Linz will be a race against time.
Alaba’s failure not only hurts Real Madrid, it would also be bitter for ÖFB team boss Ralf Rangnick – and for the Linz audience anyway. You don’t see a world-class soccer player that often in Upper Austria’s provincial capital.
The defensive all-rounder, who has won no fewer than 32 titles in his grandiose career and has a market value of 55 million euros, is in danger of falling over his anniversary for the time being.
He currently holds 98 country matches. If he played both games on the Gugl, the 100 in the team jersey would be perfect. It doesn’t look like it at the moment.
Source: Nachrichten
