Halfway through the Madrid derby on Saturday night, Gareth Bale was forced off with an injury after close to a year of being injury-free.
In the 40th minute the Welshman started to put his hand on his right adductor and stretch on the pitch, gestures that have been all too familiar during his time at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
He continued to call for the ball when Real Madrid were in possession, but, when they weren't in possession his body language did not suggest he was a player at 100 percent.
He held on until the break, but it was Dani Ceballos and not Bale who came out for the second half.
Including his 40 minutes in the derby, Bale had played seven times this season and contributed with four goals and three assists.
He had established himself as a leader in the team's attack and just when it seemed as though his worst injury woes may be behind him, his night was cut short.
Tests will inevitably follow to determine the extent of his injury, but all early indications suggest that he will not feature for at least a week, ruling him out of the Champions League meeting with CSKA Moscow and the fixture against Leganes in LaLiga Santander.
The news is not good for Wales either, as he may have to miss his country's mid-October match against Spain.
With this development, Julen Lopetegui continues to lose his attacking troops and Marcelo, another important player in Madrid's attacking makeup, is also out for the next few weeks.
Prezko
230
Ronaldo will be like "Lions don't compare themselves to humans" Injury less Cristiano Ronaldo OUT Injury prone bale IN then OUT
hoacikmy
224
RM doesn’t need CR7. The remaining RM players can visit Bale at home or hospital. They may not win much but with Bale a spectator and Perez managing the team they may not be relegated!
LeeDaehoon0040
167
then u sell ronaldo knowing this man always has injury crisis Madrid is pathetic lets see what the season holds and Perez u should know that back there ronaldo is making his name known as the goat in serie a
princehans
107
that is the same guy who said real is better without cr7. and noe he is already complaining of injury? that's funny wen we compare players to cr 7. he is one of the most dynamic player on earth who adapts to every team. when he was at man united, he will create spaces and score but wen he came to Madrid, there were players who could create those spaces that's y he had to play the part of a finisher. and now in juve, he plays out of the box to give assist