Real Madrid: 3 players who need to step up following Sergio Ramos’ injury

Real Madrid has a few vital games approaching. They play Eibar next, followed by their Champions League quarterfinal clash against Liverpool. Never mind the opponents, not a single game in the league can be taken lightly from here on if Los Blancos wants to have a realistic shot at a second consecutive LaLiga title. Right after Liverpool, they face arch-rivals Barcelona in the second Clasico of the season.

It is reasonable for Zinedine Zidane to wish for a full-squad while going into such an important spell of games. But as is evident, this season has been injury-ridden. The latest one and probably the hardest one to swallow for Madridistas is captain Sergio Ramos (yes, again).

He featured needlessly in a game against Kosovo in the World Cup qualifiers for the last 4 minutes of regulation time. The match was already won with a score-line of 3-1 and there was no need for another defensive addition on the pitch for Spain. He picked up a muscle injury in his left calf. Reportedly, he will miss 3-4 weeks which includes the Clasico and both legs of the UCL QFs.

As such, the responsibility to organize the Madrid defense will fall back to Zidane’s remaining defensive options. One of the two things can be done. First, he moves forward with Real’s traditional four players at the back set up with Lucas Vasquez and Ferland Mendy dropping back and advancing as per need. Or, a second option would be to play three players at the back, the way Madrid has chosen to line up in recent matches. Either way, here are the 3 players who need to put their best foot forward in absence of their captain.