Why is the ACL, which frightened the players after the "best midfielder in the world" was knocked down by injuries, so scary?

In the 7th round of the Premier League, Manchester City defeated Brentford in an away game. They scored 10 points in the past 4 league rounds and returned to the top of the standings. However, fans don't seem to care much about the outcome of this battle, and Rodri's injury is more concerning. The Spaniard played only 20 minutes before he was replaced due to a hamstring injury. The tragic knee cruciate ligament injury seemed to have caused Mr. Golden Ball to fall from the altar.

[ACL swept the football world, an unbearable nightmare]

At the beginning of the 2024/25 season, Rodri suffered a serious injury from the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of his knee and was sidelined for 235 days. Taking the injury of Mr. Ballon d'Or as a turning point, Manchester City lost the halo of the "six championships in seven years" period and entered the reconstruction period ahead of schedule.

As a well-known iron man in European football, Rodri only had three minor injuries before he was seriously injured, and his total absence time was less than one month. After suffering this serious injury, Rodri quickly became "glassy". Since his return at the end of last season, Rodri's injuries have recurred many times. He was sidelined for two weeks due to knee pain at the beginning of this season, and will be recovering from a hamstring injury for another three weeks. Recently, Guardiola will replace Rodri early in the game. Unfortunately, this "moderate" use of troops failed to prevent the tragedy.

Real Madrid has become the hardest hit area for ACL injuries.

Rodri's injury opened Pandora's box. Since last season, knee cruciate ligament injuries have enveloped European football like a nightmare. According to incomplete statistics, more than 70 people in the five major leagues have suffered cruciate ligament injuries. Carvajal, Icardi, Marc Bernard, Bremer, Zapata, Militao and Traore have just returned to the green field. Colville, Leoni, Belotti, Pezzella, Suslov, Liveramento and Pieraniolo have become unfortunate followers.

[Stealth Killer, Hard to Prevent]

Cruciate ligaments, also known as cruciate ligaments, are two ligaments that cross in the shape of a cross in the joint. They are mainly distributed in the knee joint, metatarsophalangeal joint, metacarpophalangeal joint, etc. For football players who have to frequently change speeds and make sudden stops and turns, the stability of the knee cruciate ligament is particularly important. It connects the femur of the thigh and the tibia of the calf, and is responsible for slowing down the impact of the calf bones on the knee joint during strenuous exercise. The anterior cruciate ligament is more likely to be injured than the posterior cruciate ligament.

When the anterior cruciate ligament is just torn, blood will enter the gap in the knee joint. The injured person will feel discomfort in this state, but can still walk or bear weight normally. The injured often mistakenly believe that it is just a "fault" and fail to deal with it in time. When the knee joint injury worsens to the point where they can no longer hold on, the tragedy becomes irreversible.

For football players, a torn cruciate ligament is one of the most serious injuries. Many players have lost their former speed and explosiveness after suffering heavy injuries. After returning from injury, they have to adjust their playing style. There are countless players who have become glass men. According to statistics from medical expert Francisco Dravi, about 10% of players will suffer a torn cruciate ligament during their career. Young players often get injured due to low bone density. Veterans are mostly injured because of osteoporosis. "Mesozoic" players often bear the task of continuous combat. The knee cruciate ligament is very fragile under muscle strain.

[Modern football is changing with each passing day, and the cruciate ligaments are overwhelmed]

After long-term training and competition, experienced players can control their bodies well and accurately grasp the posture and strength when making movements. When the density and intensity of the game is not high, players can greatly reduce the risk of cruciate ligament tear by maintaining good physical condition and concentration. When a player enters continuous combat mode, the muscles in a fatigued state will cause excessive stretching of ligaments and bones, which will lead to incomplete movements and difficulty in fully exerting force, and the risk of injury will increase sharply.

Last season, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern did not reach the limit of games, but overload operation has become a daily routine for the giants.

In the past year, the European Championships and the Club World Cup have come one after another after the restructuring, and many players are in a state of breathlessness. Under extreme circumstances last season, Manchester City players had to play 85 games, Real Madrid players had to play 81 games, and Bayern players had to play 74 games. However, since the cup competitions (UEFA Champions League & Club World Cup) of the three teams ended earlier, the players did not have to suffer this. Before the start of the Club World Cup semi-finals, Maresca complained that "Chelsea has played 70 games in the past 354 days." What he did not expect was that the Blues' opponent Fluminense also played 70 games on the other side of the Atlantic.

Devil training may no longer be suitable for this era.

In order to cope with the unprecedented devilish schedule, many teams are conducting heavy exercise training during the preparation period before the 2024/25 season. This move is for physical reserves, and the "dividends" will not be gradually released until the middle and late stages of the season. Players drag their tired bodies to play, and the risk of injuries in the early stages of the season is high. This may explain why most ACL injuries last season occurred before Christmas.

The difficulty of "Fu Er Nian" is that players cannot continue to control radical tactics.

In addition to the suffocating schedule and training model, another reason for the frequent occurrence of ACL is that the current tactical trend is challenging the physical limits of players. In recent years, the development of ball possession tactics has stagnated. Many teams have chosen a pressing counter-attack style, and their opponents have been forced to speed up. The average running distance and number of confrontations per game in high-level competitions have increased significantly compared with the past. Players execute tactics like robots, and injuries follow them everywhere. Last season, teams such as Barcelona, ​​Bayern Munich and Juventus all completed drastic tactical changes under the leadership of new coaches, and injuries were the price they had to bear..

[Multiple measures are taken to protect players, and wealthy clubs strive to be "pioneers in exorcism"]

Most ligaments in the human body will heal themselves with "scar tissue" after injury. Knee ligaments are difficult to heal due to the flow of synovial fluid and must be repaired through surgery. After an average person undergoes a torn cruciate ligament surgery, it will take 6 months before they can walk normally, while players must spend more time rehabilitating before they can reach a standard where they can continue to participate in high-intensity games.

In the past year, Rodri, Carvajal and Musiala have suffered serious injuries.

When Rodri felt knee pain again at the beginning of the season, Guardiola decided to strictly control his playing time. In the 11 games he participated in this season, Rodri averaged only 53 minutes per game. Recently, except for playing the entire game in the six-point game against Arsenal, Rodri will be replaced midway through the second half. In the game against Brentford, Rodri played only 22 minutes before being injured without confrontation. Guardiola's changes still failed to prevent the tragedy.

Nico Gonzalez has been in cold storage for a long time after joining. Now it is time to step up.

According to statistics from medical expert Francisco Delavi, the recurrence rate of players with cruciate ligament injuries within five years is 18%, far exceeding that of athletes in skiing, fencing, tennis, track and field, cycling and other sports. There are also many players who have experienced multiple knee surgeries. The high confrontation of football matches is evident. Rodri has been suffering from minor injuries recently. On the one hand, it may be because his postoperative rehabilitation was not in place and his comeback process was a little hasty. On the other hand, it may be because he was older when he was injured and the hamstring tendon used to help with rehabilitation has not reached the expected strength.

Before Rodri, Alaba and Militao had become glass men. This is a tragedy for the veterans. As the competition becomes more intensive, the conflict between the national team and the club intensifies. As big players in the national football team, Real Madrid and Barcelona will do their best to give their players the opportunity to rest on national team match days. This is also a helpless move.

Before joining Arsenal, Calafio suffered two serious injuries, and Arteta was still relatively cautious in using him.

As Manchester City's title rival, Arsenal also has players who have been hit by ACL. Calafiore had two major knee repairs that year, but because he was young when he was injured, he recovered well later. Despite this, Arteta was still very cautious in using Calafiore, which indirectly led to the rise of Lewis Skelly and the joining of Incapie.

Chelsea has led the way in many aspects, including dealing with injuries.

Before the first round of the new Premier League season, Colwell suffered a serious injury from a torn cruciate ligament. Chelsea did not add defenders because of this, which was based on their confidence in the recovery ability of young players. Late last season, Chelsea was able to get out of trouble entirely due to the depth of the lineup brought by the "four-tier bus". Maresca's big rotation in the early part of the season accumulated enough energy for the team. The Blues finally achieved their three major goals of competing for fourth place in the Premier League, winning the UEFA Champions League and winning the Club World Cup at the end of the season.

After experiencing last season's defeat, Guardiola should realize that the "small lineup" can no longer meet the requirements of the times.

Chelsea has just completed a big sale and became the most profitable team in the 2025 summer window (342 million euros), but the "joint sports director" still left Maresca with a rotation team of up to 31 people. Chelsea's successful experience is of great reference, and Arsenal created two lineups based on similar ideas. Guardiola once complained that the team's lineup slimming work was not progressing well. After Nouri, Malmouche and Rodri were injured one after another, the Catalans may understand Viana's intentions.

For Arsenal, which aims to attack on multiple fronts, the introduction of Incapie is not a duplication of construction.

In addition to relying on the "big lineup" to promote rotation, Chelsea also adjusted its training mode to protect players. After Colville's injury, Maresca's team reduced return running tests and unnecessary physical training and focused more on technical and tactical training. Coincidentally, Xavi Alonso and Kompany also reduced their physical training near the start of the season. While Arteta adjusted the training mode, he also launched the "small injury, big recovery" mode. This was the principle formulated by Zidane for Real Madrid in the Double Championship season (2016/17). Today's Arsenal also has the capital to fight such a rich battle.