The injury suffered by Cristiano Ronaldo in the biceps femoris during the team’s training session on the eve of the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund has put Madrid fans on edge, who are already thinking about the idea of playing the final of the Copa del Rey without their spearhead. According to Dr. Ricardo Casal, specialist traumatologist and member of Top Doctors, “if the injury is not too serious and has already healed, he can go out to play with the risk of suffering a ‘re-rupture'”, that is to say, that the same healed area may break again.
There are different severities of the injury to the biceps femoris, and the doctor takes into account all the possibilities given the lack of transparency in the medical report offered by Real Madrid this morning. “If it is a micro-tear, in just 10 days the player can play; but if the tear is anatomical, the estimated time off work is close to a month,” says Dr. Casal.
It would not be the first or the last time that an injured player puts his boots on and puts his integrity at risk, although with the World Cup just two months away, it seems unlikely. For the doctor, “when an injury is healing, it is painful enough to prevent the player from performing well”.
An injury caused by overuse
The biceps femoris injury responds to a violent contraction of the muscle or a violent stretching of the muscle. “It generally occurs when the muscle is overloaded,” says Dr. Casal, agreeing with those who warned that the player was pushing his body to the limit. Another possibility listed by the doctor lies in the muscle not being sufficiently worked in flexibility, an option that seems ruled out considering that this is the current owner of the Ballon d’Or.