Hazard ankle break confirmed by Real Madrid, and Belgium star will miss key Man City & Barcelona games

The former Chelsea attacker could also miss Euro 2020 because of the injury suffered against Levante

have confirmed that Eden Hazard suffered a broken ankle against on Saturday.

The 29-year-old attacker limped out after 67 minutes of the fixture, which was just his second back after a previous three-month absence due to a hairline crack in his foot.

In a statement released by the club, it was confirmed: "Eden Hazard has been diagnosed with a fracture to his right distal fibula by the Real Madrid medical department. His recovery will continue to be assessed."

The distal fibula is the most common bone to be broken in the ankle and typically takes a recovery time of three to four months, throwing the former star's participation at into doubt.

Head coach Zinedine Zidane had warned in the aftermath of the encounter that he did not expect the prognosis to be bright, explaining to the media: "I think it's a knock to the same area where he suffered his last injury and it does not look good."

While confirmation of the setback is naturally a blow for Hazard, who has made only 10 appearances for Los Blancos since moving to the Santiago Bernabeu from Stamford Bridge in the summer because of successive injury problems, it is also a tremendous dent in Madrid's title aspirations on several fronts.

Zidane's side are due to tackle on Wednesday in the first leg of their last-16 encounter with the English champions, while they host in El Clasico next Sunday in a fixture that has risen in importance for the club following their failure to win either of their last two fixtures in the Primera Division, seeing them drop to second behind their great rivals.

Mariano Diaz and Marco Asensio are both expected to be sidelined for Madrid when they host City, but they are hopeful that Gareth Bale and Luka Jovic will be able to return to action following an illness that prevented them from featuring at the weekend.

Madrid have failed to win either of their last two matches, drawing with before the weekend’s setback against Levante.