MADRID: An early Federico Valverde strike helped Real Madrid to a 2-0 home win against Villarreal in LaLiga but victory came at the cost of a serious knee injury to rightback Dani Carvajal.

Madrid took the lead in the 14th minute with a stunning long-range shot by Valverde following a Luka Modric corner. Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr doubled the advantage with an unstoppable strike into the top corner from outside the box in the 73rd.

However Spain rightback Carvajal was left screaming in agony after seemingly over-extending his knee in a collision with Yeremy Pino in added time, and was carried off the pitch on a stretcher in tears.

“Serious cruciate ligament injury confirmed, I’m going to have to go through surgery and be off the field for a few months,” Carvajal, 32, later wrote on Instagram. “Already looking forward to starting recovery and coming back like a beast.”

Coach Carlo Ancelotti said his players were “sad” and “worried” for Carvajal.

He added: “Something happened that happens a lot, because of the calendar, and it happened to a very, very important player for us.”

A Real Madrid statement on Sunday said that Carvajal had “a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, a ruptured external collateral ligament and a ruptured popliteus tendon in his right leg” and would have an operation in “the coming days”.

Real’s victory came after a shock defeat by Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday. They are now unbeaten in 41 consecutive league matches, two short of the record set by Barcelona.

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