The Portugal international is likely to be unavailable for the meeting at the Bernabeu as Diego Simeone’s side aim to get back to winning ways
Joao Felix appears likely to miss Atletico Madrid‘s derby against Real Madrid after sustaining an unspecified muscle injury to his right leg.
The Portugal forward suffered the setback during Sunday’s goalless draw against Leganes and was unable to train on Tuesday or Wednesday.
“Joao Felix suffered a muscle injury to his right leg during Sunday’s match against Club Deportivo Leganes,” read a club statement.
“Given the ongoing pain after the day of rest, the club’s medical services have performed tests to diagnose the injury. He is pending response to treatment.”
While no timescale has been put on a recovery, reports in Spain suggest the injury is not serious but he will miss Saturday’s trip to the Santiago Bernabeu.
The 20-year-old has endured mixed fortunes in Spain thus far, however, scoring twice and providing just one assist in 17 La Liga appearances.
Speaking earlier in January, Atleti head coach Diego Simeone offered his backing to Joao Felix and suggested that some players take longer to settle and adapt to their new surroundings than others.
“Each player has a different personality, every player needs a different amount of time,” he told reporters.
“We try to succeed in getting each one of [the new players] to experience Atletico with enthusiasm and emotion, because apart from their talent they need commitment.
“When the feeling of playing for Atletico appears, things come naturally to everyone, just like [Stefan] Savic when he arrived and Koke.
“I don’t speak of names, but of the way of living the football that we have had [at Atletico Madrid] for a long time.”
Atletico are currently fifth in the table, 10 points adrift of leaders and city rivals Madrid following a disappointing run that has seen them fail to win any of their last four matches in all competitions.
After beating Barcelona in the Supercopa de Espana semi-final, Simeone’s men lost the final on penalties to Zinedine Zidane’s Real side and were then beaten 2-0 by Eibar in La Liga.
They were then dumped out of the Copa del Rey by Cultural Leonesa before their most recent outing, a 0-0 home draw with Leganes on Sunday.
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