Concern with Coutinho: possible involvement of the external meniscus of the left knee

The club did not want to make a public statement about Philippe Coutinho's injury -they are waiting for the results of the magnetic resonance of this Wednesday to make a diagnosis-, but it seems evident that those “annoyances”, which Ronald Koeman mentioned in a press conference at the end of the match, could end up having a dramatic outcome for the player.

As AS has learned, the first assessments of the doctors, inside the dressing room as soon as the game ended, were not at all flattering. In the absence of evidence, the first diagnosis is of a possible involvement of the external meniscus of the left knee. Now the MRI has to delimit the severity of the injury. In the event that the break is total, the player could end up undergoing surgery and the recovery time would be extended by about four months.

If finally, the tests confirm a partial rupture, one could resort to the conservative approach, that is, avoiding the operating room, but the recovery time would easily go between one and a half to two months. More difficult it seems that it is only a minor injury: left knee stability was practically non-existent, as evidenced by the fact that the player had to leave the field with the help of assistance.

So that, Everything indicates that Coutinho would not return until mid-February in the best of cases. A new setback for Ronald Koeman, who sees helplessly as injuries accumulate in the infirmary. And it is that to day of today, the Dutch technician cannot count neither on Ansu Fati, nor with Gerard Piqué nor with Sergi Roberto. The latter will be the first to reappear: he was injured at the end of November and an absence time of about two months was announced, so in principle his return is expected by the end of January.