Madrid: Real Madrid not only lost most of its hopes for winning the Spanish league on Saturday, it also saw midfielder Toni Kroos hobble off the pitch four days before its Champions League second-leg semi-final against Juventus.
Kroos pulled up lame against Valencia in the 25th minute at the Santiago Bernabeu, and trotted to the bench, where he touched the back of his left thigh.
He was substituted by Asier Illarramendi a minute later, just before Valencia scored its second goal to go ahead 2-0.
Madrid later fought back for a final 2-2 draw, but the result left it four points behind league leader Barcelona with two rounds to play.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti still believes he will have his Germany midfielder to face Juventus on Wednesday.
"Kroos has a knock on his hip and we will examine it tomorrow," Ancelotti said. "It doesn't look like a muscular problem. So we are hopeful, just like with Karim (Benzema), that he can be with us on Wednesday."
Madrid is already without midfielder Luka Modric perhaps until the end of the season, while striker Karim Benzema is expected back soon from injury.
Ancelotti tried playing defender Sergio Ramos in midfield in its 2-1 loss at Juventus last week.
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