Atletico Madrid’s Miranda injures leg in friendly

Atletico Madrid defender Joao Miranda, left. (Andres Kudacki/AP)

MADRID — Atletico Madrid says defender Miranda has injured his left leg while playing for Brazil in a 2-1 win over Austria in a friendly.

The Spanish champions say medical tests have revealed that Miranda injured a muscle "in his left thigh" during Tuesday’s game.

The club says the centre back will need "physical therapy and rest from play for the next week, when he will begin specialized training."

Miranda is one of coach Diego Simeone’s first-choice players.

Miranda will at least miss Saturday’s Spanish league game against Malaga and Wednesday’s Champions League game against Olympiakos.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.