Tuesday 22 November 2016 23:52, UK
Real Madrid suffered a huge injury scare just 11 days before facing Barcelona as Gareth Bale hobbled off with a right ankle injury just under an hour into their Champions League clash at Sporting Lisbon.
Bale has been in supreme form in recent weeks having tied his future to the European champions with a bumper contract extension to 2022.
As well as travelling to Barca for El Clasico, Real face a hectic schedule in the coming weeks with a Champions League clash against Borussia Dortmund and the Club World Cup in Japan to come in December.
"Gareth Bale suffered more of an ankle twist than a knock, but we will have to wait and see what the problem is," said Real coach Zinedine Zidane in his post-match press conference.
"Tomorrow [Wednesday], he will be examined by our medical staff and after that we will find out more."
Real were leading 1-0 when Bale was replaced by Marco Asensio and, despite losing the Wales international, they went on to secure a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Raphael Varane and Karim Benzema.
The result was enough to guarantee Real's place in the knockout stages for a record 20th consecutive season.
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