Barcelona is in a ‘super emergency’. Key midfielder and future star Pablo Gabi (19, Spain) has suffered a serious injury: a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Local reports suggest he could be out for up to eight months or more. Barcelona is reported to have lodged a complaint with the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), which is strongly unhappy that Gabi was forced to play.
Spanish media outlets ‘As,’ ‘Sport,’ ‘Mundo Deportivo,’ and others reported simultaneously on the 20th (KST) that “Gabi was confirmed to have ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee after a preliminary examination.” “He will return to Barcelona immediately to undergo further tests, including a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but at this point, he is expected to be out of action for at least six to eight months,” they said.
Earlier in the day, Gabi started the final Group A match of the UEFA European Football Championship 2024 qualifying campaign against Georgia at the Estadio Jose Sorolla in Valladolid, Spain, before suffering the injury in the 23rd minute. At the time, he hyperextended his right knee while controlling the ball after chest trapping on the right flank.레모나토토 도메인
Gabby clutched his right knee in severe pain and limped off the sideline. He was then helped off the field by medical staff. During the process, he reportedly broke down in tears. Local experts said that Gabi’s twisted knee was a classic case of an ACL tear.
Typically, an ACL tear requires at least six months and up to a year of treatment, recovery, and rehabilitation, so a prolonged absence is inevitable. Even if Gabbi were to return, he would likely need more time to get back to normal game form and conditioning. It’s effectively a ‘season out’, and depending on the circumstances, it could affect next season.
Naturally, Barcelona is on high alert. Gabi has been a key midfielder this season. In 15 official games (13 starts), he has two goals and one assist. The product of La Masia (Barcelona’s youth system) has led the attack from the midfield with his excellent technique, passing, and football intelligence. But with Gabi out for an extended period of time with an anterior cruciate ligament tear, Barcelona was left with a power vacuum.
Barcelona were reportedly unhappy with Gabi’s return from a serious injury – a torn anterior cruciate ligament – and complained to the RFEF. With Spain having already qualified for the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, the club was furious at the decision to play Gabi, who has played a number of games this season and played the full match against Cyprus, again.
“Barcelona were furious when they learned that Gabi had torn his anterior cruciate ligament, and they complained to the RFEF with a huge amount of frustration that they were putting him at risk of injury by forcing him to play,” said Mundo Deportivo, adding, “Barcelona may get $4 million in compensation from FIFA, but that doesn’t make up for the loss of a key player.”
Gabi will be devastated and disillusioned. An ACL tear is a serious injury that not only sidelines a player for an extended period of time and is very painful to recover from, but it can also have a major impact on a player’s ability to continue playing soccer in the future. In fact, it’s not uncommon to hear of players who have suffered an ACL tear and never regained their form or had their development affected.
It’s also likely to be even more frustrating for Gabi, who had hoped to qualify for the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship next June as a mainstay of Spain’s squad. In fact, he has now played 27 matches since making his A-match debut in October 2021. He also played in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar last year, starting all four games from the group stage to the round of 16.