“That can’t be right, I have to play,” Gavi shouted at halftime. He tearfully refused to accept the first bad diagnosis. Something had broken his right knee. And everyone feared the worst. FC Barcelona confirmed the suspicion after subjecting the player to the appropriate medical tests on Monday morning: “The footballer has a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in the right knee and an injury related to the lateral meniscus,” the medical statement said . It is the most serious injury of his career. He will undergo surgery in the coming days and although it is known how long he will be out following the operation, it is expected to be between six and eight months. Or more. Therefore, he will miss the season and his participation in the European Cup and the Olympic Games is most likely in jeopardy.
Gavi joins the 13 players injured in this national team break and the FIFA virus turning into a pandemic. More games, tighter schedules and more international travel. A problem that the FIFPRO union has been warning about for years and that coaches like Guardiola and Ancelotti have criticized. And before the Christmas break, Barcelona will not rest either and will play a friendly against Club América in Dallas on December 21st. Just a day after the last LaLiga game of the year.
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The Barça player was seriously injured in the preliminary round game of the European Football Championship between Spain and Georgia. La Roja was already classified. “Serious injury,” the association report indicated this Sunday. And it came true. Tragedy was felt on the field. The 19-year-old left the locker room crying over his own feet in the 26th minute. Ferran showed off the Gavi jersey after scoring a goal and social networks were full of messages from other footballers and teammates. “We go home with bad feelings about Gavi’s injury. We send you encouragement and strength. “We don’t know the extent of the injury, but knowing what kind of warrior he is and how he left the field, we believe it could be serious,” Ferran said after the game. I was right. The grief reached Barcelona, which does not have a large squad.
Gavi fell to the ground overwhelmed after a random action with Luka Lochoshvili. He doubled over and suffered from a bruised knee, so he left the field and was treated by doctors. But he returned to the field and landed on the grass after a jump, his knee shaking. “Gavi is hyperactive. He never wants to stop. He has a lot of energy and that’s why he plays so much and so well. “Good players never rest, that’s why they are good and special,” said Luis de la Fuente before the game. But after the game, the coach seemed “destroyed” and attributed the injury to a soccer accident and misfortune: “In the locker room it feels like we lost. It’s a wake. “I told the players that despite being heartbroken, we had to carry on in the game to pay tribute to the injured teammate.”
And Gavi played practically everything. Since De la Fuente sat on the national team’s bench, the Barça footballer has appeared in all games: nine times in the starting line-up, one as a substitute. “We feel it in our soul,” said the Spanish coach when asked for a few words for FC Barcelona, Gavi’s team. Within the club his presence is essential and his influence on the team is extensive. Barcelona will have to get used to the loss of competitiveness and commitment that Gavi offered in midfield. This LaLiga season he is the second Barcelona player to recover the most (8), only behind Gündogan with another. And he is third with the most minutes played (943), ahead of Ter Stegen (1170) and Gündogan (1091). In the entire competition, he is the second player behind Rayo Vallecano defender Pacha Espino (97) to win the most defensive duels (83). Of the 111 games he played as a Barça player, 89 of them were as a starter. He only missed six games in his first season, four in his second and two more since the start of the current season. A lot of minutes for a 19 year old.
However, there are people who do not see a clear connection between the calendar and cruciate ligament injuries. This is stated by LaLiga, which points out that the boy is number 59 in attendance per minute in the Spanish championship. Sources from the employers’ association also recall other cases such as those of Courtois, Militão or David Silva, who were injured in pre-season or at the beginning of the season “when there was not yet a saturation of games”.
Be that as it may, the loss of Gavi leaves a big gap in Barcelona, which will be able to comply with LaLiga rules and, since it is an injury that lasts more than four months, a to accept new players. The requirement is that your token at the time of registration represents a maximum of 80% of Gavi’s salary for the rest of the season. And with no impact on fair play, even if it won’t be free: it will have to be calculated next year.
FIFA also has to pay for the midfielder. According to the organization’s club protection program, Barcelona will collect compensation for transferring players to its national teams after 28 days of inactivity since the injury. The daily amount is up to 20,548 euros, or 7.5 million euros for a maximum of 365 days.
Ter Stegen suffers from back pain
After a terrifying infirmary waiting list last month, Barcelona began to recover. But bad news reached Barcelona from Germany. Ter Stegen also showed discomfort during this national team break. The Barça goalkeeper left the training camp with Germany on Friday. Acute back pain forced him to miss the games against Turkey and Austria and he returned to Barcelona on Monday afternoon to recover and find out the extent of his illness. Although the alarm bells were ringing for Can Barça because he was an important player, an episode of low back pain occurred. A serious injury is ruled out, which gives Xavi Hernández air and oxygen.
The evolution of his pain in the coming days will mark his presence in next weekend’s game against Rayo Vallecano on matchday 14 of LaLiga. Apart from Gavi, only Sergi Roberto and Frenkie de Jong have to recover after up to six players were injured at the same time. A total of 12 first team players have been missing since the start of the season.
The Dutch footballer trained with the group this Monday, expecting to be released and able to travel to Madrid. Another reprieve for Xavi, who in the last two seasons has seen as many as eight footballers crash with their respective countries’ national teams: Alejandro Balde, Ronald Araujo, Jules Koundé did so at the start of this season; and Ousmane Dembélé, Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay, last year. An injury pandemic that Barcelona can never seem to completely get rid of. Optimism and concern haunt the culés.
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