Thibaut Courtois faces FIFA Club World Cup fitness race

Originally posted on Football Espana | By Feargal Brennan | Last updated 2/5/23

Real Madrid goal keeper Thibaut Courtois could miss their FIFA Club World Cup trip to Morocco through injury.

The Belgian international suffered an adductor muscle injury during the warm up of Los Blancos 1-0 La Liga defeat at Mallorca.

Carlo Ancelotti was forced to make a last minute change, with Courtois forced to withdraw from the original starting line up, as Ukrainian stopper Andriy Lunin replaced him in Palma.

Mallorca shock Real Madrid by taking an early lead!

Muriqi's attempted header ends up guided over Lunin's head and into his own net by Nacho pic.twitter.com/uytr4wlFOg

— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) February 5, 2023

Reports from Marca claim Courtois flagged up the issue to Real Madrid’s medical team and the call was made not to risk him.

There is no current estimate on a recovery timeframe but this type of injury can take around three to four weeks to heal completely.

That would rule Courtois out of Real Madrid’s flight to Morocco, as they face Al Ahly in the Club World Cup semi final next week, and potentially out of their Champions League clash at Liverpool on February 21.

This article first appeared on Football Espana and was syndicated with permission.

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