Real Madrid suffered an injury setback on Monday with the confirmation that they will be without the services of midfielder Guti for at least two weeks.
Guti had to be carried out at Real's 2-0 win over Racing Santander on Sunday night after collapsing on the pitch and clutching his ankle.
He was replaced by Rafael Van Der Vaart three minutes before the half time break.
The club carried out tests Monday, and the extent of his injury was confirmed by a communique on the club website www.realmadrid.com.
"Guti has suffered a muscle tear in the calf of his right leg and he will be out for approximately 15 days. The Madrid born player will miss at least the next four games," said the statement.
The midfielder will therefore not be available for the league matches against Sporting Gijon and Espanyol in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, the away match against Betis and the vital Champions League tie in Russia against Zenit St Petersburg.
His loss was made worse for Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster by the fact that the club will be without Fernando Gago for a month, after he damaged a muscle when playing against Bate Borisov in Europe last week.
Meanwhile Wesley Sneijder is still recovering from the knee injury he suffered in pre-season.
(Xinhua News Agency September 23, 2008)