MADRID, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid midfielder Marcos Llorente is a casualty of his side's 1-1 draw away to FC Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final on Wednesday night.
Karim Benzema opened the scoring for Madrid in the fifth minute, before Malcom equalized for Barca in the 57th minute to leave the tie wide open for the return leg in Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in three weeks.
However, Llorente could be struggling to be fit for that game after suffering an injury on the left side of his groin in the 62nd minute of Wednesday's match.
The former Madrid youth team player was chosen to start ahead of Casemiro in the Madrid starting 11 by coach Santiago Solari and his impressive display alongside Tony Kroos and Luka Modric had helped Madrid dominate midfield in the early stages of the game, as they outplayed and out-muscled the Barca trio of Arthur, Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets.
Casemiro replaced Llorente, whose departure coincided with Barcelona gaining more control of the ball as Madrid sat deeper and began looking to play in the break.
Real Madrid have not yet confirmed how long Llorente will be out for, but he has just returned to full fitness after missing a month with an injury in the same position and if it is a relapse, this time he could be out for longer.
Following the final whistle, Solari commented that he was pleased with his side's performance, if not the result.
"We wanted to win and we had chances to score a second goal. But we are satisfied with what we did. This game confirms that the players and the team are working very well," he commented.
