Koke Injury: Updates on Atletico Madrid Star's Hamstring and Return

Atletico Madrid's attacking ace Koke was injured in the Spanish capital city derby against Real Madrid on Feb. 7, forcing his early substitution in the game. He has since returned to training and was included in the squad against Sevilla on Mar. 1.

Continue for updates.

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Koke Returns vs. Sevilla

Sunday, Mar. 1

Yesterday, Madrid confirmed Koke would be available vs. Sevilla:

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Diego Pablo Simeone provided the list of players called to visit Sevilla FC on the 25th League round after the training that took place this morning at Majadahonda’s Sports City.

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The main novelty on the list is Koke, who returns to the list after overcoming physical problems that had kept him away from the playing fields the last few weeks. Giménez, who suffers a strain to the hamstrings of his right thigh, Siqueira, and Saúl, will not travel with the team.

Atlético de Madrid’s squad team:

Goalkeepers: Moyá and Oblak.

Defenders: Godín, Ansaldi, Jesús Gámez, Juanfran, Miranda, Lucas.

Midfielders: Raúl, Koke, Tiago, Mario Suárez, Arda, Gabi, Cani.

Forwards: Griezmann, Mandzukic, Raúl Jiménez, Fernando Torres.

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On Feb. 27, Koke revealed his return to work with the Atletico squad. He posted a message on Twitter after Thursday's session, which AS translates as, "Great sensations during training with Atleti today." That tweet can be seen in Spanish below:

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Koke Sidelined

Saturday, Feb. 7

The Galactico's official twitter account confirmed the problem which kept Koke sidelined, with Fox Soccer highlighting the loss to the La Liga champions:

After the Madrid derby, Atletico released a statement on the injury:

Spanish newspaper AS reported the injury would keep him out for three to four weeks. Koke's tweet now suggests his absence will come in at the shorter end of this time span.

The Spain international pulled up chasing a ball from Antoine Griezmann, the last of his contributions to the club's 4-0 thrashing over Los Blancos.

BeIN Sports displayed a disappointed Koke just before he exited the field of play:

ESPN's Dermot Corrigan proved what a loss Koke is to Simeone's side, citing his excellent statistics this term as Atletico chase another league championship:

Despite Koke's loss, Atletico took the lead just four minutes later after a right-footed shot from Tiago found the net.

Simeone's team then shocked Real again, in the 18th minute, as Koke's replacement—Saul Niguez—scored Atletico's second of the afternoon. Griezmann and Mario Mandzukic added to the rout, marking Real's heaviest defeat in over four years, per BBC Sport.