Real Madrid dealt blow as star player set to be ruled out for a month after picking up injury in win over Granada: Reports

Real Madrid right back Daniel Carvajal will reportedly be out for up to a month following an injury setback during his team's 2-0 win over Granada in La Liga.

This is as per Spanish outlet Tiempo de Juego, who have reported that the Spaniard is likely to miss between three to four weeks of action.

Dani Carvajal played 45 minutes against Granada but felt discomfort during the interval and was replaced by Lucas Vazquez for the second half.

Further scans on the injury revealed that the defender has damaged the soleus muscle in his left calf (via Fabrizio Romano), which will keep him out of action until at least the new year.

Over the last few years, Dani Carvajal has been a mainstay on the right side of Real Madrid's defence. He has made 392 appearances for the club, scoring nine goals and providing 61 assists en route to winning several major honors.

This season, he has made 17 appearances across competitions, scoring two and assisting two goals in the process.

Carvajal will aim to return for the Supercopa de Espana games in the second week of January. Until then, Carlo Ancelotti will likely stick with Vazquez for the right back spot.

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Real Madrid have Europe's third-best defence

As legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson once said, 'attack wins you matches, defence wins you titles.' Real Madrid have been one of the most attack-minded and ruthless teams in front of goal since their advent. However, this season under Ancelotti, they have been pretty solid defensively.

Los Blancos have conceded just nine league goals so far in 15 games and are ranked third among the best defences in Europe's top leagues. Only Inter Milan (seven conceded) and OGC Nice (four conceded) have better records than Real, with Bayern Munich (nine) and Arsenal (10) in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

This is quite a remarkable feat considering Real Madrid have been without first-choice custodian Thibaut Courtois for the majority of this campaign, with Andriy Lunin getting the nod in goal.

Central to their solidity at the back are Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba, who have forged a great defensive partnership during their time playing together.

Currently, the record for the least goals conceded by a team in a La Liga season is jointly held by Deportivo la Coruna (1990-91) and Atletico Madrid (2015-16).

Real Madrid will need to maintain their current pace should they have hopes of rewriting history.