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Real Madrid have confirmed that 18-year-old prodigy Franco Mastantuono will be absent for the coming matches due to injury. The young Argentine is suffering from an issue that has caused trouble for Barcelona youngster Lamine Yamal. Xabi Alonso's side will next travel to England to face Premier League champions Liverpool in a mouth-watering European contest. However, the Spanish tactician will be without Mastantuono, who joined from River Plate in the summer. It's unconfirmed just how long he will miss, but the football calendar is set to move into a busy period in the coming months. While he hasn't been an automatic starter in recent weeks, with stern competition at the Santiago Bernabeu, Mastantuono has made 12 appearances in all competitions for the Spanish giants. Franco Mastuono Struck by Same Issue as Lamine Yamal In a brief statement on Monday, Real Madrid confirmed their young star is currently sidelined with a condition called 'pubalgia'. The club wrote: "Following tests carried out today on our player Franco Mastantuono by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with pubalgia. His recovery will be monitored." But what is pubalgia? Well, it's a condition that has struck several of the Spanish top-flight's biggest stars in recent times. Barcelona's Yamal has been in and out of the team due to the ongoing issue, with Athletic Club's Nico Williams also suffering from the same injury. Pubalgia is a condition that prompts discomfort as the muscles converge in the pubic area. Concerns in the capital will grow over Mastantuono, as Barcelona are said to fear Yamal's condition may be 'incurable'. The same fate could await his Real Madrid peer. Physiotherapist Lluis Puig explained the long-term impact of pubalgia in more detail. He claimed it isn't a quick-fix injury, saying: "First of all, we must say that pubalgia is not a muscle injury, but rather an alteration in the pubic area, where different muscles converge. We have to work on different levels, and we can't say that it's an injury that will be gone in a month. No, we'll have to live with it, and we'll have to do preventative and compensatory work to give him the assurances to be able to play at the highest level." Even the greatest player of all time, Lionel Messi, suffered from the exact same problem. The Argentine was already considered football's GOAT in 2019, when he admitted it was still an issue he was battling with in a radio interview:
