Real Madrid have been rocked by the news that red-hot striker Gonzalo Higuaín has been ruled out for at least three weeks with a tear in his left thigh, meaning he will miss the matches against Athletic Bilbao, Málaga and Deportivo La Coruña. With 11 league goals to his name already this season, the Argentine has been vital in Madrids pursuit of Barcelona, and whilst they'll certainly be blunted without his goalthreat, it's his lung-bursting work-rate ín Madrids first line of defence that will be most notably missed. Van Nistelrooy, Raul and Benzema are all waiting in the wings, ready to take over, so Real will not be short of firepower, at least in theory. Van Nistlerooy is yet to make a serious recovery from his most recent injury, Raul isnt getting any younger and Benzema has endured an indifferent start to his Madrid career.Rafael Van der Vaart and Xabi Alonso were also injured during the snow-hit Mallorca match and whilst Alonsos injury isn't expected to rule him out for too long, Van der Vaart will join Higuain in the treatment room for the next three weeks; a sad end to his rich vein of form which had seen him cement a place in Madrids starting line-up. An injury crisis is beginning to descend upon Pelligrinis side, and the strength of their squad will be severely tested in the weeks to come. Kaká, Gago and Granero will need to be on top of their game in Madrids engine room, whilst Ronaldos goals will be required more than ever. I would still expect them to get past Málaga, but Athletic Bilbao and Depor away (they havn't won in the Riazor for 17 years) will be tough assignments.
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