Cristiano Ronaldo will be out of action for at least 10 days, his club Real Madrid said on Friday.
Ronaldo, 26, tore the femoral biceps muscle at the back of his left leg in Thursday's 7-0 slaughter of lowly Malaga. He suffered the injury 15 minutes from time when he scored his third goal of the night, and limped off the field, DPA reported.
Ronaldo will miss the upcoming league matches away to Racing Santander and at home to Hercules, but Real hope he will be fit for the March 16 Champions League match against Olympique Lyon.
Until he limped off against Malaga, Ronaldo was the only player in La Liga to have played every minute of league action this season.
Real coach Jose Mourinho has been criticized for never leaving Ronaldo on the bench nor taking him off towards the end of matches.
The Portuguese striker has been in magnificent form this season, and is joint top of the scorers' chart with Barcelona idol Lionel Messi, both on 27 goals.
The hammering of Malaga left Real seven points behind runaway leaders Barcelona.
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