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Real Madrid have been dealt with an injury blow after Pepe suffered a muscle injury in the 2-1 mid week win against Athletic Bilbao.

Pepe

Pepe sustained a knock during the game and tests were carried out at the Sanitas La Moraleja hospital. Real Madrid issued a statement saying that the defender has been diagnosed with a muscular injury caused by a knock to his left leg. His condition is being evaluated.

Pepe missed training on Friday following the knock and will not play against Malaga today.

Real Madrid will also be without Sergio Ramos who is out of action with a shoulder problem. In the absence of both the first choice centre backs, Rafael Benitez will be pairing Raphael Varane along with Nacho Fernandez in the heart of defence against Malaga.

Real Madrid have been superb defensively under Rafael Benitez and have just conceded one goal this season. But with both his first choice defenders missing, Rafa will have to do some tinkering to keep the defensive stability.

Still, Real Madrid should come through without much problems against a Malaga side that has been struggling in the league so far. Malaga lie 19th in the table and has yet to score in the league and that is unlikely to change when the two sides meet at the Santiago Bernabeu.

So far we have had the pleasure to see many surprises in the 2014 FIFA World cup as we have seen top teams like Spain,England and Italy marching out of the worldcup in the group stage itself and the other team which is ready to join the club is the 4th ranked Portugal. After getting thunderstruck by Germany and heartbroken by USA it is time for Cristiano Ronaldo and Party to prove their worth and get themselves out of this mire.
Portugal are now on the verge of getting out of the world cup thanks to Germany and USA but the other figure who deserves equal credit is Pepe who was fool enough to concede a red card in a very crucial match against Germany. Although the Portugal National team is half drained by injuries there are still some hopes left for them as the last match day of Group G awaits us with tons of surprises . And now what every portugal fan needs is some Ronaldo magic . But what else they need is a German victory against USA with a goal difference of 3 or more goals given Portugal beat Ghana with the same goal difference . In short , if Portugal is to qualify then both Germany and Portugal need to win their respective match with a combined goal difference of at least 6 goals. Seems tough ?
Oh yes it is tough but not impossible.

In spite of hopeful players , dreamy fans and a big responsibility we cannot deny that their current form has not been up to the mark to justify their dream to qualify for the knockout round. The one thing the team lack is coordination. The final ball in the box has not been good enough. It will not be unfair to say that despite scoring a goal Nani is not delivering what was expected of him. Cristiano Ronaldo seems exhausted and looks like someone has taken out the magical fuel cell from his body. And the rest of the team is playing like a High School team. But still the whole planet wants to see the world player of the year to qualify for the next round and accomplish this mission impossible for his team.

Writer : Mudit Panwar (  Twitter - @mudit56  )
Courtsy : Football'N'All.Com