The Portuguese admitted he had over-stretched himself after having knee problems at the back end of the last season which he carried into the World Cup and then suffered a hamstring injury at the start of this campaign.
Check out the top footballers of the weekend...
Barcelona's Lionel Messi rescued a 1-1 draw at Villarreal with a sensational late free-kick on Sunday but could not prevent the champions finishing the weekend third in La Liga, five points behind leaders Real Madrid.
It's a truly bizarre world we live in... These images prove it.
Manchester City made it five wins out of five in the Premier League and Cristiano Ronaldo scored five goals for Real Madrid but Chelsea and Juventus continued to struggle at the weekend as the Champions League looms.
On the eve of the big game, the Malian footballer tell Rediff.com's Norma Godinho why Real Madrid are favourites and what is plaguing Barcelona this season.
Valencia climbed above Atletico Madrid and Sevilla into third in La Liga when Alvaro Negredo came off the bench to score a late winner in a 3-2 home victory over his former club Almeria on Saturday.
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Atletico Madrid's La Liga title challenge took a nosedive when they slumped to a shock 3-0 defeat at Osasuna on Sunday, leaving Real Madrid three points clear at the top.
Real Madrid's bid to land Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur for a world record fee in the region of 100 million euros is out of place in the current economic climate, Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino said on Saturday.
Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco each conjured moments of magic as Atletico Madrid recaptured top spot in La Liga from Barcelona with a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Real Madrid closed to within three points of La Liga leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the halfway stage of the season when a Pepe header secured a laboured 1-0 win at mid-table Espanyol on Sunday.
Real Madrid closed to within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona after demolishing nine-man Rayo Vallecano 10-2 while Atletico Madrid missed a chance to seize top spot outright by losing 1-0 at Malaga.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 27th career hat-trick and Gareth Bale struck twice as Real Madrid bounced back in style from consecutive defeats with a thumping 8-2 La Liga win at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.
Real Madrid's Javier Hernandez struck twice as they came from behind to beat Celta Vigo 4-2 away and keep the pressure on Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Sunday.
Neymar scored the opener to continue his rich vein of form as 10-man Barcelona won a one-sided La Liga derby against Espanyol.
Manchester City have signed French central defender Aymeric Laporte from Spanish club Athletic Bilbao, the Premier League leaders said on Tuesday.
Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga was cut to two points on Saturday as they squandered a two-goal advantage to draw 2-2 at Sevilla while Real Madrid powered their way to a 3-0 home win over Eibar.
A star-studded Indian shooting contingent will begin their Rio Olympics campaign on Saturday with in-form Jitu Rai hoping to launch the country's medal haul in an event which will also see his more illustrious senior colleague Abhinav Bindra aiming to end his glorious career on a high.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid dropped points at home for only the second time this season.
Real Madrid ensured top spot in La Liga at the midway point of the season when Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice in a 3-0 win at Getafe on Sunday before Lionel Messi's hat-trick helped Barcelona to a 4-0 victory at Deportivo La Coruna.
Cristiano Ronald headed his 300th goal for Real Madrid in a laboured 2-0 La Liga victory at neighbours Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday that kept the gap on leaders Barcelona down to four points.
Paris St Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his first Ligue 1 goal this season before missing a penalty as they beat En Avant Guingamp 3-0 to extend their lead to four points on Tuesday.
Barcelona left it late to snatch a 1-0 win at Valencia on Sunday after Atletico Madrid's 2-0 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna was overshadowed by the death of a visiting fan hours before kickoff.
Barcelona lost for the second straight La Liga game in a 1-0 home reverse against Celta Vigo but there was no such trouble for Manchester City, who beat 10-man Manchester United 1-0 thanks to Sergio Aguero.
When Swedish champions Malmo take on mighty Real Madrid on Wednesday they do so knowing they would probably have to sell their entire squad just to be able to afford a single player from the bench of the Spanish giants.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has given his backing to Xavi and says the veteran midfielder remains a valuable member of the squad despite having played just 45 minutes in the opening five La Liga games.
In England, the celebrations went on at Leicester City as they marked their fairytale Premier League success with another win while champions Juventus' long unbeaten streak in Italy came to an end.
Chelsea returned to their early-season form to open up a five-point lead in the Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi continued to make mincemeat of La Liga defences and Juventus extended their lead in Serie A. In France, Olympique Lyonnais retained top spot with a 2-0 win at RC Lens.
Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a hat-trick and Gareth Bale became the fifth British player to score for Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in La Liga when he struck twice in an action-packed 7-3 win over Sevilla on Wednesday.
A weekend of surprise results across Europe's big leagues saw Bayern Munich's unbeaten run come to an end, Napoli knocked off top spot in Serie A and Manchester City toppled in the Premier League where Leicester City are the new leaders.
Photographic summary of the football matches played across Spain, Italy and France
The three-horse race for the La Liga title tightened on Sunday when leaders Real Madrid drew 2-2 at city rivals Atletico and Barcelona won 4-1 at home to Almeria.
Here are Aseem Chhabra's picks -- 'films that mattered to me, entertained me and will stay with me through the year.'
Merseyside Police is reportedly investigating racist abuse received by Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli on Twitter after he tweeted 'Man Utd...LOL' after the crushing 5-3 defeat met by Manchester United at the hands of Leicester on Sunday.
Queens Park Rangers could be consigned to English soccer's minor leagues if they are relegated from the top flight and fail to pay a potentially huge fine for breaching the Football League's financial fair play rules.
US Open champions Marin Cilic and Serena Williams kicked off their China Open campaigns with straight sets victories against battling underdogs on Monday, but Rafael Nadal suffered defeat in a rare doubles outing on his return from injury.
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