Madrid, Oct 28 (IANS) Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over FC Barcelona has come at a price with the La Liga club confirming that defender Dani Carvajal has suffered a knee injury.

The injury is likely to sideline the defender until the start of 2026 as the recovery process is expected to take around two months.

“Following tests carried out on our captain Dani Carvajal by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with the presence of a loose body in his right knee joint,” reported the Real Madrid official website, adding the defender would “now undergo an arthroscopy surgery.”

The new injury setback comes after the Spain international returned to action as a second half substitute against Barcelona after missing a month with a muscle injury.

If the recovery timeline holds, Carvajal won’t play again in 2025. He is expected to miss about ten matches, including seven in LaLiga and three in the Champions League.

The 33-year-old missed nearly all the 2024-25 season with a torn knee ligament, only returning to the field at the start of the current campaign to compete with new arrival Trent Alexander-Arnold for the right back spot in Xabi Alonso’s side.

Alexander-Arnold has also just returned from a muscle injury, with Alonso using Uruguayan midfielder Fede Valverde on the right of his side’s defense.

Real Madrid’s El Clasico win over Barcelona at the Bernabéu saw Carvajal notch up his 200th LaLiga victory.

He reached 200 LaLiga victories in his thirteenth season with the first team. He has played 293 games and scored 10 goals. He has also won this trophy four times.

Carvajal made his debut in this competition on August 18, 2013, with his first victory (2-1 against Betis). Since then, the team he has beaten most often in LaLiga is Real Sociedad (14).

–IANS

bc/