By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
An injury setback for Real Madrid’s Guerschon Yabusele.
Yabusele, 27, has been diagnosed with a partial tear of the lateral collateral ligaments in his left knee, according to Pilar Casado. The team confirmed the results of the medical tests on the French power forward later Friday evening.
He is coming off 30 minutes of action in the latest double-game week of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, including 12:26 against AS Monaco in Round 9 of the Regular Season on Thursday. He produced three points and one rebound contributing to the 19th win in as many games across all competitions in the 2022-23 campaign. However, Los Blancos will attempt to extend the perfect streak missing a key player.
Joining Eli Ndiaye (nose) and Carlos Alocen (left knee) on the injury list halted his fifth year in Europe’s premier club continental competition. Yabusele put up 10.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest over seven appearances, including five starts. His 7.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per ACB game are part of the 9-0 tally.
The next game for the team coached by Chus Mateo is against Unicaja in WiZink Center on Sunday. Following Round 10 of Spain’s Liga Endesa Regular Season, the defending EuroLeague champions will stay at home to face ALBA Berlin in Round 10 of the continental league next Thursday.
After logging 90 appearances in the NBA with the Boston Celtics in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, Yabusele went from China’s Nanjing Tongxi Monkey Kings to LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne of his home country of France before joining the Madrid powerhouse in 2021.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net