Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte has been ruled out of Saturday’s clash with Real Madrid through suspension.
The central defender picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in Sunday’s entertaining 2-2 draw at Deportivo La Coruna and has not missed a minute of action all season.
The Basque giants will now need to find a partner for Unai Nunez in the heart of defence with Yeray Alvarez still unavailable with Xabier Etxeita the most likely candidate to play.
There was more bad news for Jose Angel Ziganda’s side as Oscar De Marcos limped off with a toe injury on his return to first-team action.
Marca reports the player could have suffered a broken toe in the encounter, and will now need to be assessed by the Basque club’s medical team.
