Barcelona does not raise its head with knee injuries. With Gavi it rains in the wet. Unfortunately the Blaugrana club has a lot of experience in recent years with the joint. The team is not lucky, having suffered four serious knee injuries in five years. Before the Andalusian midfielder, Ansu Fati, Coutinho and Umtiti had to undergo surgery.
Gavi suffered a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on Sunday and an associated injury to the external meniscus. The 19-year-old Los Palacios midfielder misses the remainder of the season with Barça and Spain.
At Barça, due to age, they still remember Ansu Fati's injury, which was broken in November 2020 in a match against Betis. The tear of the internal meniscus in his left knee caused him to undergo surgery several times. He did not return to the pitch until the end of September 2021, almost eleven months after Mandi's fateful entry.
The forward, who was 19 years old, saw his progression cut short. Before the injury, Fati had been a starter 23 times. Afterwards, he was only 18. He is currently on loan at Brighton in the Premier.
Shortly after Ansu Fati, Philippe Coutinho's injury occurred. The most expensive signing in Barcelona's history (120 million plus 40 million in variables) did not succeed at the Camp Nou in part due to his injury to the lateral meniscus in his left knee. It was on December 29, 2020 against Eibar. He had surgery, the recovery was complicated and he did not reappear until September 2021. He only played 16 more games with the Blaugrana shirt.
Samuel Umtiti's career as an elite center back was also cut short due to his left knee. The French defender suffered discomfort throughout the 17-18 season but continued playing and forced his way during the World Cup in Russia, in which he became champion. He had damaged cartilage in the joint, but he ignored the club's doctors and never wanted to have surgery. He did not play normally again in the following four seasons and ended up leaving the club.
There have also been recent cases of knee injuries on the women's team. Also four. The most famous is that of Alexia Putellas, who was the current Ballon d'Or winner, when she was preparing for the 2022 Euro Cup with the Spanish team. Bruna Vilamala also broke his crusaders with Spain, in a U-23 friendly against Portugal. In addition, goalkeeper Cata Coll and defender Jana Fernández are two other footballers who have also gone through that bad experience.
