Gauntlet Thrown Down For Guti

Real Madrid midfielder Guti will face an uphill challenge as he races against the clock to regain full fitness ahead of the big derby clash this weekend.

Los Blancos’ vice captain was expected to join Fernando Gago and Wesley Sneijder on the road to recovery for Saturday’s Madrid derby against Atlético but he has suffered an injury setback in his haste to return to fitness.

The midfielder sustained a muscle overload in his calf due to the excessive rehabilitation work he had been doing over the last ten days in an attempt to make a full recovery from his initial thigh injury he picked up almost four weeks ago.

Although the setback is not serious, the club’s medical team is reluctant to see him over-exert himself any further and as such, his participation in Saturday’s derby against Los Colchoneros has been rated as doubtful.

Guti, however, will be given a run-out in training on Thursday and if he complete the session without any problems, then he should at least be given the all clear to be included in Bernd Schuster’s squad.