The game against Levante at the Ciutat de Valencia (3-3) will be recorded in the retina of the Culé fan as the image of a defeat rather than a draw: the team lost two vital points for the championship, which would have also meant sleeping that night as leader, but what is worse, it reflected a worrying resignation and impotence, after being traced in two minutes a lead of 0-2.
But the consequences of this game have gone far beyond the result: two players had to retire early due to relapses. One, that of Sergi Roberto, reluctantly acknowledged in a club statement that spoke of “tendon discomfort” in the rectus femoris of the right leg, when the truth, as this newspaper has learned, is that it is a rupture of I take and loin, with a low time between one to two months.
Much more sibylline was the statement that the club issued during the match on Ronald Araújo, limiting itself to noting that he suffered “a blow to his left ankle.” Obviously, it was the most delicate area of the Uruguayan center-back, where he had suffered injuries this season, including relapse. As AS learned, the player also underwent tests after the game, which confirmed a new relapse. In fact, an injury was detected in the syndesmosis of the left ankle, without ligament involvement or fracture, which could have taken him off the pitch for about three weeks. More than due to the severity of the injury, we are talking about a sprain, the problem is that it is the third time that he has suffered the same ailment and in the same ankle, entering a very dangerous spiral for such a young player.
In addition to these two casualties, Koeman also has those of Ansu Fati and Philippe Coutino. The first, is recovering in Portugal, after being operated for the fourth time on the internal meniscus of the left knee, while the second, continues his rehabilitation in Brazil, after going through the operating room three times to solve his injury to the external meniscus of the left knee.