Real injury concern over Ronaldo’s knee

Andy West 06:01 21/08/2014
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  • Wear and tear: Ronaldo’s knee issue may have to be carefully managed.

    Real Madrid are waiting to discover whether Cristiano Ronaldo will be available for Friday’s decisive sec­ond leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Atletico Madrid – and their concern over the Portuguese star’s fitness also stretches much further into the future.

    Ronaldo was substituted dur­ing half-time of Tuesday’s first leg, which ended in a 1-1 draw, and Madrid have so far revealed no fur­ther details on the severity of the Portuguese’s leg injury.

    There are growing fears, how­ever, that Ronaldo is still suffering from the knee injury which dogged him throughout the latter stages of last season and during the World Cup, and his availability may be heavily restricted this season.

    Ronaldo has been remarkably injury-free throughout the course of his career, making at least 29 appearances in each of his 11 sea­sons since breaking into the Man­chester United first team in 2003.

    However, he turns 30 in February and is feared to be suffering from tendinosis, a chronic knee injury that will never be completely cured and requires careful management.

    Ronaldo has remained upbeat over his fitness, insisting the prob­lems of last season are now behind him, but there are genuine con­cerns within Madrid’s medical de­partment that he risks being forced into a lengthy spell on the sidelines if he continues to play every week.

    The worries over Ronaldo’s fit­ness could have an unexpected consequence on the future of Angel Di Maria, who received a warm ova­tion when he emerged as a late sub­stitute against Atletico.

    Di Maria has been heavily tipped to leave the Bernabeu following the capture of James Rodriguez, but his popularity with the fans and the possibility of Ronaldo missing a large chunk of games this season could force club president Floren­tino Perez into a rethink.

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