Real Madrid seem to jump from one piece of bad news to the next currently, and the fallout from Rodrygo Goes’ knee injury is looking similarly unkind. The Brazilian will miss the remainder of this season, and the World Cup, but already his return looks like a long and arduous road.
Los Blancos went down 1-0 to Getafe on Monday night, and were whistled off at the end of both halves, with some fans even demanding the resignation of President Florentino Perez. Manager Alvaro Arbeloa is facing increasing scrutiny over his position, but maintained that the title race is still on with Barcelona after falling four points behind. To add injury to insult, it was discovered that Rodrygo had suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament during the encounter.
Rodrygo played final half hour through ACL tear
The 25-year-old was coming back from tendonitis injury as it was on Monday night, having missed five games as a result. Arbeloa introduced him in the 55th minute in search of an equaliser to Martin Satriano’s thunderous volley, but according to Diario AS, Rodrygo’s injury occurred just 10 minutes later. They say in the 66th minute, Rodrygo received the ball on the touchline, and was about to set off on the run, but went down with pain.
After a few seconds on the floor, Rodrygo got up again, and continued. It is not known if he had a partial tear at that point and aggravated the symptoms, or the damage was done.
Rodrygo recovery time could be as long as a year
Further exams have revealed that in addition to a full ACL tear, Rodrygo has also torn his meniscus. The result being that Rodrygo’s initial time out, forecast for 7-9 months out, could be closer to a year, with 10 months seemingly the shorter end of his recovery time.
The extra time out will impact both Rodrygo’s chances of getting back to full fitness next season, and Real Madrid’s squad planning. If he is not back until March of next year, then at this stage of the season it is usually difficult to build up fitness due to the importance of games. Los Blancos equally may plan their season without Rodrygo, seeing any quality contributions as a bonus.
