Filipe Luís reinjures thigh, out until 2017

Atlético Madrid confirmed Thursday that left back Filipe Luís has suffered a Grade II muscular injury in his left thigh. He is set miss league games against Villarreal and Las Palmas, meaning he is effectively ruled out until 2017.

Filipe did not play against Bayern Munich on Tuesday and sustained the injury early in training Wednesday, lasting mere minutes before needing to leave the pitch. It seems to be a recurrence of the injury he suffered against PSV Eindhoven last month, albeit slightly more severe. He went on to miss the games against Osasuna and Guijuelo before returning to face Espanyol.

Filipe being out any length of time is rough news, as he is one of Atlético’s most important individual players. Diego Simeone knows this too, which is why he has tried recently to give the Brazilian a bit more rest. However, this does open the door for Lucas Hernández to slot in at left back for the time being, and the young Frenchman was so impressive against Bayern and has looked solid against higher-level opposition since he made himself a part of Simeone's plans in 2015-16. Strong performances from Lucas in the near future will go a long way toward getting Atlético back into top form even with Filipe out.