Gareth Bale out of Real Madrid Champions League tie
MADRID. October 2. KAZINFORM - Real Madrid's world-record signing Gareth Bale will miss the Champions League match against FC Copenhagen after he aggravated a thigh injury, BBC Sport reports.
The Welshman, signed from Tottenham for £85m, suffered the setback in Saturday's 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid. "After the tests carried out on Wednesday, the player has been diagnosed with a muscle contracture in his left thigh," Real Madrid said.
"It remains to be seen how the condition develops."
Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas will make his first appearance at the Bernabeu in nearly nine months after injury and Diego Lopez's form kept him out.
Bale, 24, is yet to complete a full 90 minutes for the Spanish giants, andhad to withdraw from the Real Madrid team minutes before the league game against Getafe on 22 September after straining his left thigh.
Elsewhere in Group B, former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini will take charge of Galatasaray against Juventus. Mancini was appointed on Monday in the wake of Fatih Terim's dismissal. His new side lost 6-1 in their opening Champions League group game against Real and have a tough task to match last year's run to the last eight of the tournament.
Chilean Manuel Pellegrini filled the vacancy left by Mancini's sacking at City and will manage the English side for the first time in a home European game when holdersBayern Munich visit the Etihad Stadium.
City and Bayern secured 3-0 victories overViktoria Plzen and CSKA Moscowrespectively in their opening Group D games. In Group A, Paris St-Germain, who reached the quarter-finals last season and have since added Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani to their squad, will take on last season's Europa League runners-up Benfica. Anderlecht and Olympiacos will meet attempting to avoid a second successive defeat after both lost their opening games.
Manchester United, who lie 12th in the Premier League after losing three of their opening six top-flight matches under new manager David Moyes, travel to Shakhtar Donetsk in Group A.
The Ukrainian side secured an impressive 2-0 win away to Real Sociedad in their Champions League opener, with Brazilian Alex Texiera scoring both goals.