Real Madrid: Gareth Bale, Luka Modric injured during break before Clasico

Key Real Madrid starters Gareth Bale and Luka Modric were impressive in action during the international break, with the former scoring in their head-to-head Euro 2020 qualifying matchup. But the break came at a high price again for Real stars, as both men suffered injuries during Sunday’s game.

Real Madrid have been hit hard by injuries this season. Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Isco, James Rodriguez, Marco Asensio, Thibaut Courtois, Ferland Mendy, Luka Jovic, Marcelo, Brahim Diaz, Nacho Fernandez, and Eden Hazard are all either currently injured or have missed time for Los Blancos at some point this season.

And now, Real fans can add Gareth Bale to that list, as both he and Modric, who had only just recovered from a multi-week injury, suffered injuries during the Euro 2020 qualifying matchup on Sunday between Croatia and Wales.

The night started off happily enough, as Bale scored a first-half equalizer in the third minute of extra time. But by the end of the match, he was visibly limping, unable to come off the pitch as Wales were out of substitutes.

Meanwhile, Modric’s injury looked even worse. The Croatian midfielder was substituted late in the game and was in a lot of pain. He needed to be helped off the pitch, just minutes before the game would have been whistled over.

Managing Madrid’s Kristofer McCormack recently wrote a piece about how Real Madrid’s injury crisis earlier this season could be traced to the international breaks, and our Ben Sundock had a piece about how he despises the international break due to the injuries that happen.

We’ll have to anxiously wait for updates on Bale and Modric over the coming days, and hopefully both star players have avoided significant injuries. But any injury to either veteran starter is a tough blow for Real, and Modric’s injury looked particularly bad.

Real Madrid will have to face Barcelona at Camp Nou on Oct. 26, with their third group stage matchup of the Champions League just days earlier. That is also a must-win match for Real, considering they have just one point in two games in the tournament.

Modric and Bale are expected starters in El Clasico. Bale is having a strong season for Real and recently recorded an assist against Granada. Meanwhile, Modric scored an insane goal in that same game to put an exclamation mark on his recent return. Losing both players for a significant amount of time would hurt a lot, especially with Barca on the horizon.