For two months, a discomfort has been haunting Lionel Messi in the left knee. It was born from the disqualifying kick that Venezuelan Luis Adrián Martínez gave him in the duel for the South American Qualifiers on September 2, which Argentina won 3 to 1. Although the French press alleged a muscular discomfort to argue his absence in In the duel of PSG against Leipzig next Wednesday for the Champions League, L’Equipe also rightly added the pain in the knee in the medical part.
In effect, the injury would require a more extensive recovery, so he could miss several games. In fact, La Pulga plans to travel to Spain to undergo a treatment that will put an end to the physical complications. It is the same knee by which, for example, Mauricio Pochettino was replaced in the match against Lyon for Ligue 1, which provoked the anger of the 34-year-old striker, always eager to remain on the field of play until the final whistle. And the same one for which in the last time he was observed making gestures, or stooping and moving, as if looking for his stability.
“After the blow to his left knee, Messi underwent an MRI this morning that confirms the signs of bone contusion,” had been the medical report published by PSG at the time. This injury occurs when a blow generates internal bleeding in the area, which generally results in a hematoma and can cause inflammation in the area.
Defender Martinez, in that knockout match, hit him with the plugs at the knee. “At that moment I felt my leg go back, I felt something in my knee, I had a bit of discomfort in the game … Luckily it was the blow, just, but at that moment the kick was ugly”, explained the Albiceleste captain , who decided to continue on the field, but in his description, that of a footballer who has enjoyed good health throughout his career, it can be read that he sniffed that it was not just another blow.
“Today I have no words. Those who know me know that I would never go against the physical integrity of a colleague. I just want to apologize to the coaching staff, my teammates and all the Vinotinto fans who support us from the bottom of their hearts. I love my country and I assume my responsibility ”, was the mea culpa of the offender in social networks: the referee Leodán González ended up expelling him, at the request of the VAR.
In the middle, Messi had good performances (he scored three goals against Bolivia and led the National Team to the best game of the Scaloni cycle in 3-0 against Uruguay; he scored a huge victory against Manchester City and doubled against Leipzig, to name some great performances), but he carried the injury like a backpack. Therefore, the intention of giving it a cut. Why in Spain? The site chosen would be the CEMTRO Clinic in Madrid, whose knee unit is run by Vicente Concejero, former head of the Atlético de Madrid Medical Services.
It is a place he knows: there he went in 2015, when he suffered a ruptured left collateral ligament in 2015, after winning the last Champions League in Barcelona and having reached the final of the Copa América with the team that Tata Martino led. Then, the recovery was optimal and, as the Councilor promised, “it did not leave any sequelae.
Since the blow that left him diminished, Messi hardly stopped. He traveled to the triple October qualifying date and only hit the pause with his team when Pochettino’s coaching staff considered it. On Friday, in the victory against Lille, he was replaced at halftime by Mauro Icardi. Despite his commitment to his new club, Leonardo, sports director, remarked in the last hours: “He arrived and, with these stories of international truce, he spent his first two months more in the national team than in Paris. When you travel so much, it makes sense to have muscle discomfort ”.
However, with the Albiceleste involved, the captain does not hesitate to make new efforts. In fact, his wish is to get to face Brazil in San Juan on November 16 in San Juan, on a new day behind the goal of getting a place for the Qatar World Cup 2022. Especially, after the classic was cut short in São Paulo due to the intrusion of health agents a few minutes after the start of the lawsuit. It will depend on the finished diagnosis he receives in Brazil and his evolution, but everything indicates that, for a few days, the magic of his left-handed foot will have to rest. (Infobae)