Real Madrid have suffered another major injury blow as striker Ruud van Nistelrooy’s season looks to be over after it was announced that he will undergo an operation to correct a problem with his right knee. The reigning Spanish champions already have Arjen Robben and Mahamadou Diarra out of action due to calf and thigh problems, while Rubén de la Red is still recovering after fainting on the pitch on 30 October. de la Red’s football future is in doubt after Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon revealed to a Spanish radio station that the Spain international could be suffering from a heart problem. de la Red will not return to action unless doctors are certain that his health is not in danger.

The 32-year-old former Manchester United and PSV Eindhoven star damaged his knee during Real’s 2-1 Champions League defeat at Juventus in October. He travelled to the United States last week and underwent exploratory surgery. He is being treated by Dr. Richard Steadman, who previously operated on van Nistelrooy in 2000 prior to his move to Manchester United FC from PSV Eindhoven. Along with damaged cartilage, a cyst on the players’ cruciate ligament was discovered, leaving club doctors in no doubt that the player required an operation.

Despite being troubled by the problem all season, van Nistelrooy made six league appearances for Madrid, scoring four times as well as firing in another three goals in four UEFA Champions League games. He is the second top-scorer in Champions League history with 60 goals.

Dr Richard Steadman will be a busy man as he will also be treating Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves. Hargreaves will not play again this season after undergoing surgery on his right knee with a further operation to follow on the left.

The Guardian details that Steadman has developed special surgical techniques which allowed several United States Ski Team members to return to competition and win Olympic medals. In 1976 he was named Chief Physician for the United States Ski Team and in 1989, his work was recognised with his election to the US National Ski Hall of Fame.

Hargreaves has not played since September 21st because of the persistent tendinitis which has restricted his opportunities at Old Trafford since his 2007 move from FC Bayern München. United are also missing Paul Scholes through a knee injury though he should return to action much sooner than his colleague.

Dynamo Kyiv’s substantial injury list has grown by one more. Defender Olexandr Romanchuk has been ruled out for at least six months with a double fracture of his left leg sustained in a Ukrainian Cup quarter-final match. Kyiv look like they will also be missing midfielder Milos Ninkovic, centre-back Taras Mikhalik and goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy ahead of their important MatchDay 5 fixture with Arsenal.

Villarreal’s leading scorer Joseba Llorente will not be available for the Spanish club’s two remaining fixtures in the Champions League as he needs approximately a month to recover from a tear in his right thigh. Llorente had been enjoying a good start to his career at Villarreal, scoring six times in eleven league games so far this season.

He joined the Yellow Submarines on a four-year contract from Real Valladolid in the summer after scoring 16 times in 39 appearances during the 2007-08 season. After coming on as a substitute, he scored a second-half hat trick against Aalborg BK in Villarreal’s memorable 6-3 win on October 21st.

Juventus defender Jonathan Zebina will miss up to three months after undergoing surgery on an inflamed tendon in his left leg.

CFR 1907 Cluj will be without striker Didi and defender Gabriel Muresan is a doubt for the visit of AS Roma next Wednesday. Didi suffered a recurrence of a problem with his left knee in a league game against FC Unirea Urziceni while Muresan is struggling with a muscle strain.

I thought I would share with you some of the articles that have caught my eye over the past couple of days:

• Kartik of Major League Soccer Talk argues that Landon Donovan’s trial with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich is a good move for the player.
• Kudos to Werder Bremen for taking a tough stance on extremist fans
• Congrats to Rubin Kazan – Russian Premier League champs
• How FourFourTwo selected their Top 100 players on the planet.
• Some bad news for one of my favourite players, Owen Hargreaves, the England international and Manchester United midfielder whose season is done and speculation is that his career may be in jeopardy as well.
• Juan Arango of La Liga Talk covers the historic Copa del Rey defeat suffered by Real Madrid at the hands of Real Unión, a Segunda B (third division) side. What is it with Spanish Primera teams losing to Segunada B teams this year? There are more second legs to come today but unless they have a massive turnaround Villarreal will go out at the hands of Club Polideportivo Ejido, who won the first leg 5-0.
• Not helping his case at all, Real Madrid boss Bernd Schuster said he had “no idea” why his team leaked 6 goals over two legs to a third division side.
• This article is a bit older but Sid Lowe of the Guardian wrote a nice piece on how Pep Guardiola has Barcelona looking like champions again.