He left the field towards the end of his club’s 5-1 Clásico defeat to Barcelona on Sunday with a leg injury.

“He has been diagnosed with a muscular injury to his right hamstring,” the club said without announcing how long he would be sidelined for.

Madrid newspaper AS says Marcelo will be missing for around three weeks.

Marcelo joins a Real Madrid list of unavailable players including Dani Carvajal (rest), Jesús Vallejo, Mariano Díaz (both thigh injuries), and Raphaël Varane (groin injury), leaving Real with a depleted defence for the next few games.

The injuries come as a blow to Real’s interim head coach Santiago Solari, who was appointed on Tuesday following the firing of Julen Lopetegui.

The Argentinian coach has only four first-team defenders available: Sergio Ramos, Nacho Fernández, and youngsters Álvaro Odriozola and Sergio Reguilón.