Report: Gareth Bale to miss Espanyol trip

Gareth Bale will reportedly miss Real Madrid's La Liga clash with Espanyol this weekend after injuring his hip in Los Blancos' 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.

Bale picked up the problem in the latter stages of the first period at the Bernabeu, and although the Welshman was present at the start of the second half, he was replaced before the end of the 90 minutes.

According to Marca, Bale will undergo a medical examination on Thursday afternoon to determine the extent of the problem, but the attacker will now miss Sunday's league match with Espanyol.

Karim Benzema returned from a hip injury to start Wednesday's European tie with Sporting, but it was the Frenchman's replacement Alvaro Morata that grabbed a late winner in the Group F clash.