Headlines like 'X footballer suffers an ACL injury' evoke grim imagery, as fans of some clubs have been reminded of. The new football season hasn't even begun in some leagues but ACL injuries have been aplenty.
Reacting to the damage caused by football, Pep Guardiola has railed at football officials for the ever-increasing load on footballers but who even thinks he will be heard?
In this article, we name players who have damaged their knees in recent weeks but first, let us explain what this injury is by summarising the explainer published in The Athletic.
What is an ACL injury?
ACL stands for anterior cruciate ligament. It is a fibrous tissue in a knee that stops the shinbone from twisting inwards.
The majority of ACL tears are accidental: a player makes a sudden change of direction or jumps and lands on his feet only to feel his knee go.
How much time does it take to recover from an ACL injury?
It takes eight months on average to fully recover from an ACL tear. It might take longer if a knee is, excuse the language, truly fucked up.
An ACL tear requires surgery. In the best-case scenario, a footballer can resume light training in about 3-4 months after the operation, plus time to build up muscle strength.
Footballers who don't train for months lose match sharpness. So even if the ACL is recovered, a footballer is susceptible to tearing some other part of the body. That's why the recovery process is so long.
Is it painful to tear an ACL?
If Zlatan Ibrahimovic can feel the pain, anyone else would.
As you can see, this is probably the nastiest injury out there and since it's mostly accidental, it can happen to anyone.
This is the list of footballers we are unlikely to see on the pitch this season because of an ACL injury.
Thibaut Courtois. The Real Madrid goalkeeper suffered an ACL injury in training and was reportedly stretchered off in tears. This is a huge blow to Madrid's ambitions as in their case, a goalkeeper is half the team.
Eder Militao. The Real Madrid centre-back ruptured his ligaments while attempting to win the ball back. He slid and then collapsed to the floor.
Wesley Fofana. The young Frenchman already had a bad injury record and it got worse after he damaged his knee in pre-season training with Chelsea.
Jurrien Timber. The £34m Arsenal signing had a nightmare of a Premier League debut. He was casually jogging backwards totally unpressured when his knee went.
Emi Buendia. Aston Villa's no.10 suffered the injury in training. Ahead of their first Premier League clash against Newcastle, Villa footballers put on the shirts that read "Stay strong, Emi".
