David Alaba suffers fresh injury setback as Real Madrid's defensive woes worsen

Just weeks after making his return following a year-long absence, David Alaba has been sidelined once again due to a new injury, as confirmed by Real Madrid.

"After conducting tests on David Alaba, the Real Madrid Medical Services have diagnosed him with an injury to the adductor muscle in his left leg. Further updates will follow," read the club's statement.

Alaba's setback comes shortly after Real Madrid also lost Antonio Rudiger to an injury during their match against Espanyol this past weekend.

The 32-year-old defender had spent over a year recovering from an ACL injury and had only made his return in January, appearing in four matches across all competitions.

It was anticipated that Alaba would be part of the squad for the upcoming Copa del Rey clash against Leganes, but this will no longer be the case.

Alaba will be unavailable for approximately two to three weeks, which is a significant blow for Los Blancos.

This injury rules him out of the crucial Champions League knockout stages against Manchester City and the highly anticipated La Liga derby against Atletico Madrid.

With Alaba’s absence, manager Carlo Ancelotti now has only Raul Asencio and the underused Jesus Vallejo as available centre-back options, in addition to makeshift defender Aurelien Tchouameni.

The injury crisis may force Ancelotti to rely on academy players such as Jacobo Ramon and Diego Aguado for upcoming matches, while also considering Ferland Mendy as a temporary centre-back solution.