Football: Biggest injuries so far this season

We’ve only hit the second international break of the season and there are already some notable absentees in some of Europe’s top leagues.

Although football is a team sport and it takes a squad to win major trophies, there are some exceptions to this theory. Sometimes it’s that one player whose availability or unavailability can make all the difference.

In this article, we take a look at some of the biggest injuries across Europe’s top leagues. 

Rodri

One of the favourites to win this year’s Ballon d’Or, Spain and Manchester City’s defensive rock Rodri has been sensational over the last 18 months. He has won every single trophy there’s to be won for both club and country, playing a crucial anchor role. Missing a player of his calibre would hurt any team’s chances. 

Rodri has been one of the most vocal players when it came to speaking on the matter of players having to play more minutes than ever before. During the 2024 Euros final, he limped off at half-time after sustaining a knee injury before getting substituted as a precautionary measure. However, it was deemed more serious than at first perceived as Rodri missed the entirety of Man City’s pre-season and start to the season.

It was in Gameweek 5 of the Premier League season against Arsenal where Rodri made his first league start of the season, but it only lasted for 21 minutes before he went down with another knee injury, one that has now ruled him out until the end of the 2024/25 season. 

Dani Carvajal

The 32-year-old has been a constant feature in the Real Madrid defensive line for more than a decade. Few months back, he scored in the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund during his side’s 2-0 win, helped Los Blancos win LaLiga, and played a key role in helping Spain win the Euros in the summer. 

Thus, to lose such a player so early in the season will be a huge blow to Real Madrid. Carvajal suffered an anterior cruciate ligament rupture in Real Madrid’s 2-0 LaLiga win over Villarreal earlier this month. He was stretchered off in tears in added time at the Santiago Bernabéu. 

“Following tests carried out on Dani Carvajal by the Real Madrid Medical Services, the player has been diagnosed with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, a ruptured external collateral ligament and a ruptured popliteus tendon in his right leg,” Madrid revealed in a statement, effectively confirming the end of his season.

Marc-André ter Stegen

Barça #1 Marc-André ter Stegen is the first of the top-class goalkeepers to get sidelined with a serious injury this season. The Germany international, who’s on 289 appearances and thus sits third on the all-time appearances list for the team’s goalkeepers, had started every single game for the Blaugrana this term before his unfortunate injury. 

The Barça keeper had to leave the field at the Estadio de la Cerámica at the end of the first half earlier in August. The injury came about as the he landed awkwardly after catching a Villarreal cross. He was visibly in pain and was quickly replaced by Iñaki Peña.  

Later, ter Stegen underwent a successful surgical intervention on the patella tendon injury in his right knee, carried out by Dr Joan Carles Monllau under the supervision of the club’s medical services at Barcelona Hospital. The 32-year-old is expected to be out at least until the end of the season. 

Alisson Becker

Liverpool have so far just conceded two goals across all competitions this season, a lot of which can be attributed to Alisson Becker’s brilliance between the sticks. Alongside Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, Alisson has been one of Liverpool’s most consistent performers, bailing them out of tricky situations on numerous occasions. 

However, last week in the Premier League, the Brazil international had to come off against Crystal Palace with a suspected hamstring injury. It was confirmed by the club that he would remain sidelined with a hamstring injury until further notice. 

It was revealed recently that Alisson would be out at least until the end of November and should be back in training by mid-December. He is expected to miss matches against Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton, Aston Villa, and potentially Manchester City and Newcastle United in the Premier League, as well as three Champions League fixtures against RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, and Real Madrid.