The Barcelona player Gavi has been one of the last to suffer this serious injury and will be out for months
According to BeSoccer data, the most affected club between the two categories is Oviedo, with three players
Gavi’s fall from grace, seriously injured this Sunday during Spain’s match against Georgia, adds to the list of First and Second Division players who suffer a torn cruciate ligament: up to 18 footballers are in the infirmary for that reason with an ailment that seems like a plague.
Gavi will have to face a long road to recovery that others have already begun before. For about eight months, he will go through different phases of one of the worst injuries a footballer can suffer. Once operated, The Barcelona midfielder will have to digest that he will miss the rest of the League, the Olympic Games and the Euro Cup.
Mentally it will be tough for a man as competitive as Gavi, although he will be able to rely on the experiences of a large number of players who are currently going through a similar situation.
Some have just begun their ordeal and others already see the light at the end of the tunnel. Each case is a world, but They all share the hardship of putting their profession on hold for a long period of time.
Of the two categories, according to BeSoccer data, the most affected club is Oviedo. The Asturian team has three players in the infirmary with serious knee problems. They are Rodrigo Tarín, Álex Millán and Mario Hernández. Only the first, injured in March 2023, is in the final phase of his recovery. He has little recovery time left, while his two teammates, injured in July and September, respectively, still have a long way to go.
In the First Division, Real Madrid, Villarreal, Atlético and Getafe are the most affected. They all have a couple of players with an affected cruciate. The team led by Carlo Ancelotti was left without Thibaut Courtois and Éder Militao at the first opportunity this season.
The Belgian goalkeeper was seriously injured in preseason and the Brazilian defender fell on the first day during the clash against Athletic. The white club had to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga to cover the goal position and opted for the players it had in defense to make up for the loss of Militao.
At Villarreal they are working with the recent drama by Yeremy Pino, injured last day, and they address the end of Francis Coquelin’s injury, affected since February 2023 in the cruciate ligaments of his right knee. The Frenchman is already doing group training and his reappearance is close.
Reinildo Mandava and Vitolo are the injured for Atlético de Madrid. Diego Simeone is already counting the days until the Mozambican’s return to the playing fields, who suffered an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee at the end of February during a derby against Real Madrid. He is already in the final stretch to end his ordeal. He trains with great intensity and his return is imminent.
Meanwhile, Vitolo, who although he does not count for Simeone, has a contract with the red and white club and is another seriously injured player for Atlético. In May 2023 he was admitted to the infirmary with an injury to his right knee with an estimated period of absence of between eight and ten months.
Getafe also has two seriously injured. Enes Ünal and Mauro Arambarri. The first one broke at the end of last season and after undergoing surgery he began a recovery that will end at the end of January.. His president, Ángel Torres, announced that he hopes to have his best scorer for those dates. He will be a good winter signing for the blue club.
With Arambarri we will have to be more patient. The lighthouse in the center of the blue field He was injured just as he was returning from another ankle injury which kept him off the playing fields practically all of last season. He fell five days ago during the duel against Betis and will be absent from the playing fields for another eight months. His new entry into the infirmary was a whole bucket of cold water for the Uruguayan midfielder.
Girona, leader of LaLiga EA Sports, is not immune to the plague of crusaders eithers. Specifically, Toni Villa suffers it firsthand, it was broken in April 2023 with the addition of a tear in the external collateral ligament. His established recovery period was between ten and twelve months. He will still have to wait.
Alexsandar Sedlar is the last of those injured in the First Division. Alavés was left without the Serbian defender two days ago. He said goodbye with a goal that was worth three points for his team and, after finishing the match, It was found that he suffered a torn cruciate ligament in his left leg. with partial tear of the internal meniscus.
Sedlar’s is the second to last loss in the First Division due to a serious knee injury. Then Yeremy Pino and Gavi arrived to close a long series of injuries that also affects several names from the Second Division: José León (Tenerife), Rubén Pulido (Huesca), Esteban Saveljich (Burgos) and Miguel Baeza (Mirandés) , complete the list of the 18 footballers who suffer from the crusader plague in the First and Second Division.
Active cruciate injuries in the First and Second Division
Player Team
Rodrigo Tarín Oviedo
Alex Millan Oviedo
Mario Hernandez Oviedo
Thibaut Courtois Real Madrid
Éder Militao Real Madrid
Reinilido Mandava Atlético de Madrid
Vitolo Atlético de Madrid
Mauro Arambarri Getafe
Enes Ünal Getafe
Francis Coquelin Villarreal
Yeremy Pino Villarreal
Gavi Barcelona
Alexandar Sedlar Alavés
Toni Villa Girona
José León Tenerife
Ruben Pulido Huesca
Esteban Saveljich Burgos
Miguel Baeza Mirandés