Yang Yang's injury would keep him out for three weeks. That was certainly bad news for Real Madrid, but what the media and fans around the world truly found fascinating was that the other two leading candidates for the Golden Ball Award, Messi and Bayern Munich's Ribery, had also been injured.
Last season, Bayern Munich had made it all the way to the Champions League Final on the strength of Ribery's outstanding performances, only to narrowly lose to Barcelona, led by Messi. That had given the French star hope of breaking into the top three for the Golden Ball Award and challenging Yang Yang and Messi's standing.
Although it was difficult, Ribery had actually received more support for a top-three finish than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Yet in the end, all three of them were injured within the same week.
Some said it was the Golden Ball Award's curse.
If they were going to get injured, they might as well all do it together. Fair enough!
Real Madrid took Yang Yang's injury extremely seriously. Florentino personally instructed the coaching staff that Yang Yang should rest longer rather than risk an early return, especially since Real Madrid had no important matches coming up.
They had already played both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, and there was no pressure at all to advance from the Champions League Group Stage.
Under these circumstances, Real Madrid needed a healthy Yang Yang even more.
Of course, Real Madrid still had plenty of confidence. Even without Yang Yang, the team could handle things with ease as long as no major opponent stood in its way.
Midweek, on Matchday Five of the Champions League Group Stage, Real Madrid hosted Galatasaray.
The Turkish side was locked in a fierce battle with Juventus and Copenhagen, and the away match against