The Colombian suffered a strained knee ligament during international duty and Real Madrid have confirmed the injury. He will miss the Clasico.
James Rodríguez has been “diagnosed with a sprain to the internal ligament of his left knee” according to Real Madrid in an official update on the Colombian’s status. James returned to Madrid after injuring his knee on international duty and while the club did not specify the amount of time he is likely to miss, Dr. José González, As’ medical expert, says he will miss at least a month and a half. The Colombian will likely miss the Clásico and not return to action until 2020.
The 28-year-old suffered the injury on 15 November in Miami while training with Colombia in preparation for the side’s two friendlyes against Peru and Ecuador. During one play at the International University in Florida, James turned awkwardly and was forced to undergo a scan on the knee.
Sources at Real Madrid said it was a knee injury he had suffered and they said while it wasn’t serious, it was causing a lot of discomfort. For that reason, James returned to Madrid to get assessed by his club. He stayed in Miami on Saturday and Sunday with his former partner and their child, waiting for the swelling to subside and the injury to calm down before flying to Madrid.
The last time James played for Real Madrid was in Turkey against Galatasaray in a game they won 1-0 thanks to a Toni Kroos strike. That was on 22 October and James only played 11 minutes. in the pre-match press conference ahead of the Eibar game, before the international break, Zidane said James was still coming back from injury and while he didn’t have an injury, he said he wasn’t available either. “He still hasn’t trained with the group and so he can’t play,” said Zidane.