MADRID: Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has suffered bruised ribs and his recovery time will depend on how he responds to treatment, the nine-times European champions said after tests yesterday.
The 32-year-old Spain captain should be fit to return to action for their next Champions League outing at home to Copenhagen on October 2, local media reported.
Casillas collided with team mate Sergio Ramos in the opening moments of Tuesday’s 6-1 Champions League rout of Galatasaray. After trying to play on, he decided to call for Diego Lopez to come on and replace him.
It was a bitter blow for Casillas, an ever-present figure in the Real goal for more than a decade, who was returning to play a competitive match for the first time since the beginning of the year when he broke a bone in his hand and lost the number one jersey to Lopez.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti has continued where Jose Mourinho left off last season, and started Lopez in their opening four La Liga matches, though he said at the weekend that Casillas would be the team’s keeper in cup competitions.
“There was a lack of communication, but there was so much noise we couldn’t hear each other,” Real defender Ramos told sports daily Marca, of the incident where he jumped into Casillas. “It was really unlucky.”
Ramos posted a photo on his Twitter account yesterday of Casillas smiling and pretending to punch him while on the plane back from Istanbul.
“Departing for home sitting beside...hmmmm. Someone wants to kill me today. It won’t be anything, he’ll be back soon.” AFP
