Thibaut Courtois left in tears as former Chelsea star suffers fresh injury blow days after return

Former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has suffered another knee injury, reportedly leaving Real Madrid's training in tears. This comes just days after he returned to training following a long-term absence due to an ACL injury in his left knee back in August, ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Courtois had been back in full training last week, hoping to play a key role for Real and Belgium at Euro 2024. However, on Tuesday, he suffered a major setback with another knee injury, which could rule him out for the rest of the season.

Spanish outlet Marca reported that this meniscus injury was on the opposite knee to the one that had the ACL problem. It's a big blow for Real, and it's likely that the Belgian goalkeeper will need surgery. Recovery from a meniscus injury can take anywhere from six weeks to three months.

«After the tests carried out today on our player Thibaut Courtois, he has been diagnosed with a torn internal meniscus in his right knee,» Real confirmed. «The injury occurred during today's training session. Evolution pending.»

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This injury led Real Madrid to sign Chelsea's Kepa Arrizabalaga on loan at the start of the season. Kepa has been competing with Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin for the No 1 shirt, although recently, the Chelsea player has found himself as the second choice.

Lunin is expected to now continue in goal for the rest of the season, with Real facing a crunch Champions League quarter-final tie against Man City next month.