By Francisco Acedo & Lucas Brown Last updated: 13th November 2008
Van Nistelrooy: Knee operation
Real Madrid have confirmed that Ruud van Nistelrooy will miss the rest of the season after he underwent knee surgery.
Van Nistelrooy flew to America to consult leading surgeon Richard Steadman, who previously operated on him.
The Dutchman stated earlier this week that he was confident of only being sidelined for around two months with the injury but that will not be the case.
Instead the Real Madrid goalscorer, who underwent surgery in 2000 prior to joining Manchester United from PSV Eindhoven, is now out for between six and nine months.
"Following an exploratory arthroscopic operation on Wednesday, it was determined that Ruud van Nistelrooy had a partially torn meniscus in his right knee," Real Madrid stated on their official website.
"Real Madrid's medical staff, Dr. Steadman and the player decided to surgically repair the damaged knee, by which he will miss between six and nine months."
The 32-year-old aggravated the injury back in October against Juventus in the UEFA Champions League.
It is now believed that Real will be looking at bringing in striking reinforcements in January.

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| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Sunday 31st May | |
| Spanish Primera Liga | |
| Racing Santander 1 - 1 Getafe | |
| Sporting Gijon 2 - 1 Recreativo Huelva | |
| Osasuna 2 - 1 Real Madrid | |
| Real Betis 1 - 1 Valladolid | |
| Numancia 0 - 2 Sevilla | |
| Espanyol 3 - 0 Malaga | |
| Saturday 30th May | |
| Spanish Primera Liga | |
| Valencia 2 - 0 Athletic Bilbao | |
| Atletico Madrid 3 - 0 Almeria | |
| Deportivo La Coruna 1 - 1 Barcelona | |
| Mallorca 2 - 3 Villarreal | |
| Sunday 24th May | |
| Spanish Primera Liga | |
| Real Madrid 1 - 3 Mallorca | |
| Saturday 23rd May | |
| Spanish Primera Liga | |
| Athletic Bilbao 1 - 4 Atletico Madrid | |
| Valladolid 1 - 2 Sporting Gijon | |
| Almeria 0 - 3 Espanyol | |
| Malaga 1 - 1 Real Betis | |
| Recreativo Huelva 0 - 1 Racing Santander | |
| Getafe 1 - 0 Numancia | |
| Sevilla 1 - 0 Deportivo La Coruna | |
| Barcelona 0 - 1 Osasuna | |
| Villarreal 3 - 1 Valencia | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Almeria | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Athletic Bilbao | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Atletico Madrid | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Barcelona | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Deportivo La Coruna | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Espanyol | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Getafe | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Malaga | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Real Mallorca | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Osasuna | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Racing Santander | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Real Madrid | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Real Zaragoza | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Sevilla | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Sporting Gijon | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Tenerife | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Valencia | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Real Valladolid | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Villarreal | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Xerez | 0 | 0 |
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