Madrid, Sep 2 : Real Madrid's cause for concern grows as midfielder Dani Ceballos' name has been added to the already occupied injury list as the club has confirmed that he has been diagnosed with a "grade III sprain affecting the ligaments in his right ankle," which is expected to rule him out of action for six to eight weeks.

"Following tests carried out today on our player Dani Ceballos by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a grade III sprain affecting the ligaments in his right ankle," read the statement by Real Madrid.

The defending UEFA Champions League winners will be cautious on their approach from here on out with Ceballos, Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Joan Martinez, and David Alaba all out with separate injuries.

The midfield department is heavily depleted with Tchouameni, Federico Valverde, Arda Guler and Luka Modric the only fit midfielders available to the club.

Real Madrid has not gotten off to a solid start in the La Liga having won two, lost one and drawn one game in their opening four games pf the 2024/25 season. After the ongoing international break concludes, they have the tough challenges of Real Sociedad, Stuttgart , Espanyol, Alaves, Atletico Madrid, Lille and Villarreal awaiting them in the coming months.

On the night when Ceballos injured his ankle, the Spanish midfielder made his 150th appearance for Real Madrid in the match against Betis. The midfielder reached this milestone after six seasons with our team, in which he has won 15 trophies and scored seven goals. These 150 matches (112 of which have been wins) comprise of 98 LaLiga games, 22 Champions League games, 3 Club World Cup games, 19 Copa del Rey games, 5 Copa del Rey games, 5 Spanish Super Cup games and 3 European Super Cup games.

/IANS