James suffers strained ligaments, returns to Madrid

James Rodríguez injured himself during Colombia training in Florida and left the session with pain in his knee. The latest scan on the knee shows strained ligaments, which will keep him out for three weeks according to Vbar de Caracol Radio.

The initial diagnosis was kept secret for the Colombian national team, who kept Real Madrid informed of the situation. Sources at Real Madrid said James had discomfort in his knee but assured that the injury was not serious. They took the decision to remove him from the squad to travel back to Madrid where his clubs side could do necessary tests.

Carlos Queiroz had confirmed that James was in perfect condition to play, he had not trained with Real Madrid for 22 days before joining up with Colombia due to a muscle injury. On 8 November, Zidane said that he was not injured but was not available because he was "missing something."

The only previous knee injury suffered by James was when he was with Bayern. He missed eight games during that lay-off with a sprained left knee ligament.