Asensio is back

251 days ago, life put Marco Asensio to the test. More than 35 weeks. Eight long months of work in the shade, traveling through a tunnel where the light begins to appear. His left knee, the one where he suffered a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and the external meniscus on July 23, 2019, now it is OK. There have been many hard moments in which two hopes always appeared: the moment to return with the rest of his teammates in the Valdebebas training sessions and the moment to set foot on the grass at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Asensio, finally, is ready to face the first of them. The Balearic found the confidence necessary to return to the sessions with the rest of his companions when the confinement by the coronavirus ended.

Since Manuel Leyes operated on him at the Cemtro Clinic in Madrid on August 7, doctor and patient agreed on a maxim: set weekly goals. Among them, the Balearic agenda was very close to the time to try the group when the team had to go home due to the positive for Thompkins coronavirus, Madrid basketball player. That happened last Thursday, March 12, just a few days after entering the week of March 16 to 22, which Marco saw as key to go one step further.

Aware that his recovery could not stop, He left Valdebebas that March 12 loaded with everything necessary to turn the living room and garden of his house into a makeshift gym. There, together with his brother Igor, he works in long daily sessions during quarantine. Her knee is strong, ready for the next step.

Sensations

In the last month the recovery became more enjoyable because much of the work was done on the grass and with the ball in between. Gone were the long sessions of up to eight hours in which there was only physical therapy, gym and pool. Instead, small typical recovery problems also appeared. Beyond the knee, the rest of the muscles in the injured leg also start from scratch after such an operation. That caused minor annoyances and that is why Marco has been so cautious. It will also be now, when the sensations in his first training sessions will be key to set a date to return to a squad. One of his goals for the year, the European Championship, has been postponed to 2021 and now he only thinks of being useful for Zidane in the final stretch of the season.

The other key section is the mental one. In that, those who know him well assure that he is a new person. He has learned to value everyday things much more and it has also helped him to see who was at his side. In these months, in addition, he has taken care of the diet in detail (he has even lost weight). He hopes to return even better physically and with a version strengthened psychologically. Asensio is back.