Manuel Pellegrini will still not be able to count on Isco when he returns from the championship break after Christmas. And the treatment of infiltrations with growth factors explained by Dr. Álvarez on December 19 and which was going to be carried out on … The Real Betis captain’s recovery has not improved as expected, which will force him to undergo further surgery and be out for at least another month. New setback for Isco, who not only the coach, but all of Beticismo expected again to be one of the leaders of the team on the field in the search for the exciting sporting goals that the Heliopolitan first team has in the current season 25-26, as happened in the second round of the last campaign 24-25 and led him to return to the Spanish team.
It all happened on November 27 against Utrecht in the Europa League championship phase match played at La Cartuja. After the Conference final on May 28 and the injury suffered in Malaga during the last preparatory match in August, Isco was once again a starter for the green and white team. He had reappeared four days earlier during the championship match against Girona, the day of the announcement of its extension until 2028, playing the last half hour of the match. But against the Dutch team he was substituted in the 9th minute, after an unfortunate collision with Sofyan Amrabat (who also left the match and has not played for Betis since then, although he played with Morocco in the African Cup) and raised the alarm again.
Isco, obviously, was absent from the derby against Sevilla three days after the duel against Utrecht and the days passed, the footballer had not finished returning to the group and there was not much information about his condition. Three weeks later, on December 19, Betis doctor Dr. José Manuel Álvarez announced that Isco’s recovery was taking longer. “(…)The violent blow to the tibia immediately caused a very sudden flexion-extension mechanism of the ankle which caused damage to the joint. After the impact, a very significant edema is generated throughout the leg that descends towards the ankle and, in addition, a small intra-articular injury is generated in the affected cartilage area. (…) We decided, together with the player, to launch a series of infiltrations with growth factors and in a few weeks we will reevaluate again and make decisions based on the development. These infiltrations did not improve the recovery of the man from Malaga as expected and, even without reaching the two-week period that the doctor spoke of, the best solution is once again that of the operating room.
As it stands, the green and white “22” will undergo tomorrow, Monday in Madrid, an arthroscopy, considered a minor surgical procedure, which will try to correct the intra-articular injury suffered after the Amrabat clash against Utrecht and which the medical team of the green and white team discovered and confirmed during control tests that Isco suffered three weeks after the serious contusion suffered on the shin. In principle, the captain of the Betic will be absent for at least another month, so at least until February he will not wear the elastic that carries the thirteen-bar shield.
Only 39 minutes in the first round
Given that Pellegrini will no longer be able to count against Real Madrid or Oviedo in the last two matches of the first day of the 25-26 League championship, Isco was only able to play 39 official minutes this season, between La Liga, the Europa League and the Copa del Rey, the half hour against Girona and the nine minutes against Utrecht before being replaced. After being injured in the last preparatory match in August in La Rosaleda against Málaga after the entry of David Larrubia, the Arroyo de la Miel man was absent for more than three months before reappearing on the day his extension until 2028 was announced (who could imagine that sunny and cold afternoon in La Cartuja, with Isco waving from the field, which would arrive four days later). He has now been absent since November 27 and will wait at least another month for the arthroscopy he will undergo to definitively resolve this new injury.
Now, with this new recovery period, the tight schedule for Betis’ return to competition after the Christmas holidays indicates that Isco will miss seven more official matches, four of Liga against Real Madrid, Oviedo, Villarreal and Alavés (only the one against Castellón, first of the second round, in La Cartuja), those of Europa League against PAOK in Thessaloniki in Greece and Feyenoord at home and the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey, against a rival that the Verdiblancos will meet in the draw which will take place at the RFEF headquarters in Madrid on Wednesday January 7.
A real ordeal that Isco undergoes and which seems to have no end. The footballer wants to thank the club and the supporters for their affection with his best version on the field, and in the injuries suffered previously he has always put his full recovery before returning by shortening the deadlines. This time it will be no different, at least until February.
About The Author
