Yesterday, during Real Madrid’s training, the drama unfolded. Thibaut Courtois, who was making more than adequate progress with his left knee, felt a crack in his right. It didn’t take long to confirm the diagnosis: tear of the internal meniscus. Drama, although half-hearted, because he feared the worst. Another crusader. However, after catching a glimpse of the shore, the Belgian will have to wait to put on the gloves for next season. Today he has had surgery, successfully, under the supervision of Real Madrid’s medical services. As AS has learned, the meniscus has been removed from the Bree wall. He will be out for about two months. Goodbye to the season.
Until that fateful crusader break, Courtois had avoided long-term casualties. Only on one occasion had he been in the infirmary, unable to wear short clothes, for more than a month. Only once had he missed more than five games in a row. And curiously, it was the same problem as the current one. In 2015, he also tore the meniscus in his right knee during training. He had the operation in Barcelona, when he was still a player for a Chelsea team led by José Mourinho. After undergoing surgery, the absence was almost three months. 84 days specifically. The Belgian missed 20 games, between the blue team and the national team. The lesser evil this time is that the season is coming to an end. The oldest, who will not be the great reinforcement for the decisive part of the Champions League.
A setback at the worst moment, when the worst had already happened. Carletto was waiting for Tibu, in the best of cases, after the break. For the duel against Athletic at the Bernabéu on March 31 (9:00 p.m.). If everything went well, as expected, during training on this international stretch. The idea was to even test him in a friendly against Castilla players, to confirm the good sensations of that left knee. During yesterday’s training the good news in that regard continued. Everything was going smoothly… until he felt an unexpected pain in ‘his good knee’. “It was a normal action, he went to sit up after a stop and heard a snap in his knee. It is typical of these injuries, you realize that it may be the most normal action of all, but football has these things,” Héctor Fernández, the player’s advisor, explained last night in ‘The spar’.
What options were there?
No risks will be taken in recovery. No hurry. She is not a good traveling companion to tune up a six-foot big body that has suffered two severe mishaps. One per knee. Even though the decision was made to remove the area and not suture it. The first option, the one chosen, accelerates deadlines, but entails greater long-term risks due to the affectation, in the absence of meniscus, of the cartilage. The second involves a longer recovery time, but preserves the meniscus intact. However, it is a risky technique and, as has happened, for example, with Ansu Fati, it can cause problems and cause new interventions. A balance that both Madrid and the player have evaluated, logically, and have weighed the option that they have considered most appropriate in the case of Courtois.
There is a date that could still fit into an express return: the Champions League final. It’s June 1st and it fits into the two months. However, it is very risky that without competition rhythm, a season later, Courtois reappears on D-day. More so, taking into account that Tibu is not pressed by the Euro Cup. “I will not go to the next European Championship due to the injury. I have to recover one hundred percent and it is better not to set a recovery date or goals. If everything goes well I could play in May, but it is little time to face a big tournament with the national team with guarantees,” he confessed on December 19 in Sporza. So Courtois’s goal is the white preseason. The assault on the East Coast of the United States.
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