Varane likely to miss Champions League final, a doubt for Euro 2016

Raphael Varane is expected to miss the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid after the club confirmed he has suffered a thigh injury, which also makes him a doubt for France’s Euro 2016 campaign.

Varane underwent tests on Sunday that revealed a grade two muscle injury to his left thigh.

No timeframe has been given for the centre-back’s recovery, but reports say Varane will miss Saturday’s Champions League final versus city rivals Atleti at San Siro.

The injury also casts doubt on Varane’s availability for hosts France at the impending European Championship, which begins when Les Bleus take on Romania on June 10.

“After tests today [Sunday] our player Raphael Varane has been diagnosed with a grade two injury in the left biceps femoris. [His recovery is] pending evolution,” an official Real Madrid statement read.

During the week, Varane expressed his disappointment at a lack of involvement in the knockout stages in Madrid’s run to the final in Milan, which is a repeat of the 2014 Champions League final.

The centre-back made one substitute appearance in the knockout stages, coming on during the 3-0 quarter-final second-leg victory over Wolfsburg.

It is another blow for France coach Didier Deschamps, who is already without Liverpool centre-back Mamadou Sakho due to his provisional suspension for failing a drugs test.

Eliaquim Mangala, Jeremy Mathieu and Laurent Koscielny are the other recognised central defenders in France’s preliminary squad for Euro 2016.