MADRID, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid left back Ferland Mendy will miss the rest of the season after the club confirmed that he suffered a serious thigh injury in Sunday's 2-0 win away to Espanyol.

Mendy had to leave the field after just 15 minutes of Sunday's game and was replaced by Fran Garcia.

"Following tests carried out today on our player Ferland Mendy by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a tendon injury in the rectus femoris of his right leg," the club said on its official website on Monday.

It is the defender's fifth injury of a season in which he has made just nine first-team appearances. Injuries have been a constant problem for the left back since he joined from Olympique Lyon in 2019, limiting him to 210 appearances in seven years and preventing him from making more than 26 league appearances in a single season.

Real Madrid did not say how long the defender is likely to be out, but if the tendon is affected, he will need a lengthy recovery and could even require an operation, like Eder Militao, who will miss the World Cup after undergoing surgery on a damaged hamstring tendon.

Real Madrid also has Arda Guler, Kylian Mbappe, Thibaut Courtois and Dani Carvajal sidelined through injury ahead of next Sunday's possible title decider away to FC Barcelona. ■