Liverpool have been handed a boost ahead of their clash with Real Madrid.
Next week’s Champions League quarter-final meeting between the sides will be the first since Zinedine Zidane’s side won the 2018 showpiece in Kiev.
But the Spanish champions will head into the encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano without their captain Sergio Ramos available to take on the Reds.
Real confirmed on Thursday that Ramos suffered a calf injury on Spain duty which is now expected to sideline him for both legs of the last eight tie.
The veteran defender, 35, took to Instagram to express his frustration at being ruled out of the Liverpool game as well as a showdown with Barcelona.
He wrote: “The truth is that I have had some difficult weeks.
“Surgery is always difficult both in a sporting and emotional sense.
“Luckily, for a few days now I have been feeling better, but in football, as in life, bad luck also plays a role.
“Yesterday, after the game (against Kosovo) I was training on the pitch and I noticed a puncture in my left calf.
“Today I have been tested and it has been confirmed that I have a muscular injury.
“If there is one thing that hurts me, it is not being able to help the team in the hugely challenging games we have coming up, and also not being able to return the love and energy you transmit to me on the pitch.
“I can’t do anything apart from speak frankly, work hard and cheer on the team with all my soul.”