Real's Higuain out of action for month

Higuain tore a calf muscle in Sunday's 2-1 defeat against PSV Eindhoven in Moscow, and will be out of action until early September at the earliest.

 This means that he will miss the forthcoming Spanish Supercup against cup winner Sevilla, as well as the August 26 "Liga" opener against neighbours Atletico.

 Real coach Bernd Schuster already has a minor injury crisis on his hands, given that midfielder Emerson and striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy have still not played in any pre-season matches due to muscle injuries.

 In other Real Madrid news, the digital version of Marca claimed on Wednesday that the whites have made a "final offer" to Feyenoord of 12.5 million euros (17.23 million dollars) for Royston Drenthe, but the Rotterdam club are holding out for 18 million euros.

DPA