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The life of a footballer is full of uncertainties. While success brings with itself all the glory and riches in the world, lack of form and failure to strike the right chord can be detrimental to their present as well as future.
The average footballer faces a lot of hurdles throughout the span of their professional career, however, their biggest fear is injuries. Due to the physical nature of the game, there is an inherent risk associated with the game and footballers often have to pay a big price in the name of the game.
Injuries do not discriminate between players and some of the biggest names of football have struggled with injuries in various stages of their career. Even with the advances of the modern game, a badly timed tackle or a tear picked up training can be equally devastating for professional footballers. Every season, many footballers have to spend extended periods on the sidelines recuperating from knocks and this season too, the trend has continued.
There are quite a few big names who have struggled with injuries this season and their absence have hurt their teams. We take a look at the 5 brilliant footballers who have been riddled with injuries this season.
#5 Alexis Sanchez (Chile, Manchester United)
Alexis Sanchez joined Manchester United last winter with a lot of expectations building around him. He had been one of the most consistent performers in the Premier League for quite a few seasons since moving to Arsenal from Barcelona. He was handed the iconic No. 7 shirt, as the Chilean had been identified as the correct man to take the legendary jersey forward. Unfortunately, things had not been all rosy for Sanchez for United last season.
After a stellar showing in the pre-season, Sanchez was expected to finally come good for Manchester United this time. However, he found it hard to carry his preseason form into the league, scoring just 1 goal in 12 appearances until the end of November, when he picked up a hamstring injury and was sidelined for 32 days, the highest he has been out of action in the last 4 seasons. Sanchez missed 8 games for United in that period, which included 7 Premier League ties and 1 Champions League game.
Sanchez started just 8 games so far this season, and has made 14 appearances in total. He returned from injury against Newcastle from the bench, a game he marked with an assist. He also picked up an assist against Reading in the FA Cup win last Saturday, where he walked off with another injury.
Solskjaer has stated that the latest injury is not severe, however, it will be interesting to see if Sanchez can make a full recovery in time for the Tottenham game.
#4 Corentin Tolisso (France, Bayern Munich)
The Frenchman is another player who has been unfortunate with injuries this season. After winning the FIFA World Cup with France in the summer of 2018, Tolisso was expected to carry on the good work with Bayern in his second season.
His first appearance of the season was in the first round of DFB-Pokal against SV Drochtersen in August, where he came off the bench for the last 4 minutes. His first appearance of the season in the Bundesliga was also off the bench, against Stuttgart.
He started the next game in the league, against Bayern Leverkusen, where he equalized for his team in the 10th minute. Unfortunately, he picked up an injury in the 42nd minute after a tussle with Leverkusen's Kevin Volland and had to be carried away.
It was later confirmed that the Frenchman had endured an anterior cruciate ligament tear and would be out for around 6 months! Tolisso is expected to return by mid of March this year, but by then, he would have missed approximately 32 games for his team.
#3 Sergi Roberto (Spain, Barcelona)
The Spaniard is an integral part of the Barcelona team and his versatility is an asset for his team. Sergi Roberto is predominantly a right back, but he has been utilized frequently at central midfield as well as on the right side by Valverde. His abilities have given Barcelona a tactical edge in recent times and Roberto is a very important player for the Catalans.
As such, it was a big blow for Barcelona when he picked up a muscle injury at the end of September last year, in the La Liga game against Athletic Bilbao. Incidentally, the Spaniard was playing as the defensive midfielder on the night and had to exit in the 51st minute. Subsequently, Roberto was out for 19 days, a period where he missed 2 games for Barcelona.
He returned in the La Liga tie against Seville in the middle of October. However, a month later at the end of November, he picked up a hamstring injury in the game against Athletico Madrid, this time playing as the right midfielder. Roberto was sidelined for 41 days and missed 7 games for Barcelona. He returned to action last Sunday against Getafe, where he played the full 90 minutes.
In a season where Barcelona are already riddled with injuries in the defense, the Spaniard's absence has been a big blow. One hopes that Roberto can stay fit now as Barcelona nears the business end of the season.
#2 Samuel Umtiti (France, Barcelona)
The French defender was rock solid at the back, as France rode their defensive strengths to lift the FIFA World Cup in 2018. In truth, Umtiti had been one of the best defenders in Europe for a couple of seasons now and has been attracting the attention of many big clubs with his performances.
The Frenchman's no-nonsense style of defending, coupled with his abilities on the ball has been hugely beneficial for his club as well as his country. He had become almost an indispensable part of his team in recent times and that is why his injury has severely impacted Barcelona this season, who have already conceded 20 goals in La Liga so far.
Umtiti picked up a knee injury at the end of September, which kept him out of action for 43 days and saw him miss 9 games for Barcelona. His return to action was short - he was an unused substitute in the defeat at the hands of Real Betis at the start of November and started the next game against Athletico Madrid at the end of October.
After that, he was sidelined again, with a recurring knee injury which has kept him out of action since then. He has now missed another 8 games and will not be returning any time soon. Valverde has recently suggested that the Frenchman might return to training in January, but a return date cannot be stated right now.
Barcelona will be hoping for his swift return as they prepare for a busy rest of the season.
#1 Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium, Manchester City)
The Belgian was the player of the season last year, even though he lost out on the trophy to Mohamed Salah. De Bruyne was brilliant for a City side that powered to 100 points in the league and won the Premier League Champions with a 19 point gap at the top of the table.
Over the summer, De Bruyne powered Belgium to the semi-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where his country finished third. He was the heartbeat of both teams, the engine made of gold, and his vision, efficiency and brilliance made him one of the best midfielders in the world.
As such, even greater things were expected of him this season, however, De Bruyne's dreams were broken in the very first match of the season against Arsenal, when he tore his knee ligament, an injury that ruled him out for 63 days.
He missed 10 games for City, before making a brief return in the middle of October. He played just 120 minutes over 3 matches, before a ligament injury sidelined him again, this time for another 43 days, where he missed a further 11 games.
He finally made his return in the middle of December now, before another knock ruled him out for 5 days, making him miss the game against Southampton. He returned to lead his team out against Rotherham, in the FA Cup last weekend, where he played for 67 minutes.
While City had initially coped well, the absence of their talisman had taken its toll as they stuttered in December. They are still second in the league, 4 points behind Liverpool and will be counting on their best player to rally them to a successful title defense.
