The image traveled around the world: Lionel Messi crying inconsolably on the substitute bench after having to leave the field in the Copa América final against Colombia. The captain of the National Team knew that this pain in his ankle, in addition to leaving him out in an important match, would require a good recovery time, especially at 37 years old. Inter Miami confirmed this Tuesday the ligament injury to his right ankle and now the speculation has to do with the recovery time he will have.
The man from Rosario had many injuries in his career, but only five left him out of the field for more than 40 days. The worst of all was the fracture of the fifth metatarsal that he suffered on November 12, 2006.against Zaragoza in the Spanish League, after a strong tackle by Zapater. La Pulga spent 91 days without competing, he missed 18 games with Barcelona and one with the National Team. He played again on February 11, 2007 against Racing de Santander.
This year, 2006 was the one in which he played the fewest games in his career since in March he suffered a tear that kept him without official competition for 84 days. Messi was injured on March 7 against Chelsea in England, for the round of 16 of the Champions League. At 24 minutes he was replaced by Henrik Larsson and it was later confirmed that he had a 5 centimeter fibrillar tear in the biceps femoris of his right leg. He returned on May 30 in a friendly with Argentina against Angola. Barcelona did not have the presence of Leo during 17 games.
Seven years later, he again suffered a torn biceps femoris and this time he was 59 official days without playing. On November 10, 2013, against Betis in Seville, he was at the Benito Villamarín stadium for just 20 minutes and was replaced by Andrés Iniesta. Messi missed a total of 11 games between Barcelona and the National Team. He played again on January 8, 2014, against Getafe, for the Copa del Rey.
A ligament injury also had 2015 but it was in left knee. On September 26, the League match against Las Palmas and at the Camp Nou, He was only on the playing field for 10 minutes. and was replaced by Munir El Haddadi. The injury occurred after 3 minutes when he collided with Bigas, central marker of the Canary Islands team. After being treated by doctor Ricard Pruna, he tried to continue but immediately asked for a change. The official report was a rupture of the internal collateral ligament of the left knee. In total there were 56 days of absence but more games than the 2013 injury: 13 between Barcelona and the National Team.
The fifth injury that kept him out of competition for more than 40 days occurred in the first training session with Barcelona at the start of the 2019/20 season and after playing the Copa América in Brazil. As soon as practice began that Monday, August 5, 2019, Messi felt discomfort and left. After being evaluated by the medical department, the official report reported a “first degree injury to the soleus.” He did not travel to the United States where Barcelona held the preseason and only returned to play on September 17 in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund. Although he only missed 6 matches between his club and the national team, in total there were 42 days without football, neither friendly nor official.
With the end of the Copa América, the Argentine captain was not going to have a rest since the MLS is in full activity and his return was expected this Wednesday against Toronto. Now, although there were no specific dates, the ligament compromise in the ankle means more than 30 days of recovery.