Real Madrid were hit early on in their Champions League debut against Olympique Marseille by the loss of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who went down holding the back of his thigh. The 26-year-old is battling for his place with captain Dani Carvajal, but will now face a spell on the sidelines early on his career at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Alexander-Arnold’s gestures appeared to show a hamstring injury, and he was taken off after four minutes. Manager Xabi Alonso declared that the injury was not as bad as first feared, but Alexander-Arnold will face significant time out of action.
Initially Diario AS reported that Alexander-Arnold’s absence would be just three weeks, but they have updated their report to match that of Marca, which says that the England international will be out for six to eight weeks with a hamstring tear. It is the different of a grade two or a grade three tear. It means that Alexander-Arnold will likely be out until at least November, if not into the international break in the middle of that month.