Just when everything started looking up for Real Madrid, the injury bug has hit again. And in a big way.

In the weekend encounter with Malaga, Los Blancos suffered two major injuries: one to Luka Modric and another to Gareth Bale. The former is going to miss around six weeks while the latter remains unknown regarding the timetables of his injury.

But which player is more valuable to the team?

Bale obviously scores more goals and creates more assists for Los Blancos, so his going down means that some of the offense from the team (13 goals and seven assists to be exact). But Modric makes a big difference in a number of different ways.

He is eighth on the team in key passes, fewer than Bale and his potential replacement Isco. But he is second on the team in average passes per game. His passing success rate is third best on Real Madrid, he is fourth in crosses per game, fourth in long balls (and third among non-goalie players) and fifth in through balls per game.

And then there is the defensive side of the ball where Modric ranks 10th in tackles per game, sixth in interceptions per game (and first among midfielders and forwards) and eighth on the team in blocks per game (he is first among players who are no defenders).

And for those not interested in the advanced stats, even the "eye test" (watching the games and deriving conclusions from observation) confirms Modric's importance. Who could forget how the team's midfield play slowly fell apart in the months that he was absent? And who could forget how his arrival in the game against Schalke immediately injected his team with creativity on the attack. And who can forget his tremendous work on the goal that Madrid scored against Barcelona in the most recent Clasico?

Now, with Modric down, the likely replacement is Isco, who is fourth on the team in key passes per game, fourth in assists (he has eight), fifth in average passes per game and 10th in passing success rate. He is undoubtedly the team's best dribbler, which works well to unsettle opposing defenses but he is also the most dispossessed player on the team. He does tackle more often than Modric (he is sixth on the team), so there are some tradeoffs to losing Modric that can be filled neatly by having Isco back in the lineup.

But then who replaces Bale? This is where things get tricky, especially on Wednesday against Atletico Madrid. Bale had the best chances for the team in the first leg and his speed is certainly an issue for the slower Madrid side.

If Madrid plays with a 4-3-3, then the obvious answer is Jesé Rodríguez. The Spaniard brings terrific speed and can score, but he has yet to put together a dominating performance in 2014-15, (he was injured for half of the season). The other option for Los Blancos is to go to a 4-4-2 using Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema up top with a midfield comprised of Isco, James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos and Asier Illarramendi. The latter player gives the team a true defending midfielder that would allow Kroos to roam forward into a position he is more comfortable with.

What is Madrid's best option with injuries to Bale and Modric? Let us know in the comments section below.