Real Madrid Confirm Thibaut Courtois, Marcelo Injuries Before Manchester City

Real Madrid have been dealt a double injury blow ahead of next week's UEFA Champions League last-16 second leg against Manchester City after they confirmed fitness problems for both Thibaut Courtois and Marcelo. 

Per Real's official website, Courtois has suffered an injury to his left adductor muscle, and Marcelo has been diagnosed with a left hamstring issue.

For next Tuesday's visit to the Etihad Stadium, with Real trailing 2-1 to City, Ferland Mendy and Alphonse Areola would be the likely replacements, according to journalist Dermot Corrigan:

Marcelo and Courtois will be big losses for Real, particularly for the City game, as they both have experience of playing in high-profile European matches.

Los Blancos will need to put in one of their best performances of the season in Manchester if they are to turn the tie around and advance to the quarter-finals, and that will be a much tougher task without two of their key defensive players.

Before the second leg against the Sky Blues, Real host Eibar in La Liga on Friday.

Zinedine Zidane's side have won just one of their last four games in the Spanish top flight. Fortunately for the Madrid giants, that came against Barcelona in El Clasico, but Real still trail their rivals in the title race:

Zidane will now have to manage his squad astutely to ensure they can both bounce back against Eibar and get a positive result against City, otherwise their season could collapse in the space of a week.

That is a more challenging proposition without Courtois and Marcelo to call upon, but Areola and Mendy are both adequate back-ups.