With the Portuguese centre-back injured, Mourinho has stated that it will be inhumane to risk a player for a football match and added that Albiol will be taking http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pepe-c29670’s position.
The Portuguese centre-back suffered a concussion against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 and will be out of action at least till Sunday, as reported by Jose Mourinho himself.
Real Madrid faced Valencia in their very first Spanish La Liga fixture on Sunday.
The Spanish champions started off their campaign in an unimpressive way as Valencia proved to be a difficult opposition right at the start of the season.
While Real Madrid’s direct rivals, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604, were able to win their fixture 5-1, Real Madrid only managed a draw which means that the Catalan giants are now at the top of the Spanish La Liga table.
However, Madrid did not only two points against Valencia; in fact, they also lost one of their first-choice defenders, Pepe.
The Portuguese centre-back picked up a concussion after he was elbowed to the head during the game.
With Real Madrid about to face their arch-rivals, Barcelona, in the Supercopa de Espana, Pepe is expected to be sidelined and Mourinho himself stated that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Raul-c30652 Albiol is going to replace the Portuguese centre-back in the starting line-up.
While speaking about Pepe, Jose Mourinho stated:
“Pepe's not going to play. He'd like to, but we'd rather he didn't. It isn't humane to risk a player for a football match, regardless of what match it is. We have no doubt, neither the medical department nor the coach that he won't play. He's progressing
very well and we both think and have a good feeling that on Sunday he'll be completely in the clear. Albiol will play.”
Barcelona and Real Madrid are going to square off against each other in a two-legged Supercopa de Espana final with the first leg to take place at the Nou Camp on Thursday.
The return leg will be played at the Santiago Bernabeu on 29th of August and both the teams are quite evenly matched and it is going to be very hard to determine a winner.
Barcelona are the current Supercopa de Espana title holders.
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