Real Madrid: Sergio Ramos’ latest injury is infuriating
Real Madrid center back Sergio Ramos missed nearly two months of action this winter with a knee injury, and he had only just returned to help Los Blancos see off Atalanta in the Champions League. And now, the Madrid captain is injured again, set to miss approximately another month.
Los Blancos officially announced that Ramos has a muscular injury in his left leg. COPE’s Miguel Angel Diaz reports that it is a calf injury, and he suffered the injury in the final four minutes of Spain’s match against Kosovo. He will miss three to four weeks, including El Clasico and both quarterfinals matches against Liverpool.
And this is the infuriating part. Ramos’ injury did not have to happen. He had just returned from a knee injury, played a couple of matches for Real Madrid, and should have been rested during the international “break” (which is not a break, more like a farce in a season that already burns out and injures players at a high rate).
Instead, Ramos appeared in a meaningless four minutes at the end of an already-won match. And now he is injured at a critical part of the season – and before he has signed a contract extension, no less. That has to be kept in mind when we talk about the impact of this injury on Ramos.
Sergio Ramos will be especially missed by Real Madrid in the Champions League
Luis Enrique has some explaining to do as Spain’s national team coach. I doubt Real Madrid are happy to see what has unfolded before them.
Purely looking ahead to the fixtures in April, Ramos’ injury is a huge blow to Real Madrid. Nacho Fernandez has been tremendous in his stead this season and has not missed a beat, including in the Champions League first leg against Atalanta when Ramos is still out.
But as good as Nacho has been, he is no Sergio Ramos. Nobody is quite like the veteran center back, who is the best ball-playing defender in the world and still one of the top five center backs on this planet. His reading of the game, knack for scoring goals, and leadership will be difficult to replace against Liverpool and noted foe Mohamed Salah.
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We can only hope Ramos recovers within that three to four week period and then avoids getting run into the ground after returning. We really have to question Spain’s handling of Ramos’ injury, and this injury is a further reminder of how perilous this season is for players due to all the games being played with no real breaks.