How Lionel Messi will recover from knee injury

Leo Messi has seven or eight weeks of intense work ahead of him to complete the recovery process for his injured left knee. The Argentine striker began his rehabilitation on Sunday, although during the first few days his priority will be to rest and not make any efforts that might worsen the partially torn medial collateral ligament he suffered last Saturday.

Doctors have said that Messi should not perform any activity during the first week of recovery. During these early days some doctors even recommend the use of crutches, so the injured joint suffers as little as possible. Inflammation will be reduced significantly from the fourth or fifth day, which will allow the striker to be attended to by the physiotherapists.

Feelings

Physiotherapy will be key. The treatment will allow the injury to heal prior to Messi taking to the field to run again. It is scheduled that the player spends the third and fourth weeks of rehabilitation running on grass. From that moment everything will depend on the sensations of the Argentinian star.

If all goes as expected, Messi could start playing with the ball from the fifth week. He will have to test it as he goes, because the pain in his left knee will not disappear overnight. Medically, the injury is considered cured after a month, so the feelings the player has will be key to whether they can shorten his recovery. Discomfort and fear levels will set the pace.

Another goal will be to make the injured knee acquire the necessary strength to start the final stage of rehabilitation . Doctors contemplated that the Argentine international may return to training with the group from the sixth week and a week later can train fully, ready to compete immediately. This is a very common injury among football players, so the timing and recovery steps are standard.

If Messi forced his recovery, he might even come back in six weeks, but the medical report stated that Luis Enrique will be without him for the next seven or eight weeks. The explanation must be sought in the two commitments for Argentina scheduled in mid-November, against Brazil and Colombia, and the club would like to avoid the risk of a potential relapse for the Blaugrana striker, if he is forced to travel to play for his country within six weeks.

Indeed, the physiotherapist of the Argentina national team, Luis Garcia, is expected to land shortly in Barcelona to see first-hand the progress of Messi and, if necessary, help in his recovery. In principle he will remain for few days here as scheduled next week, before returning to Buenos Aires in the company of fellow international Javier Mascherano, as the Albiceleste have two qualifiers for the World Cup in Russia on the 8th and 13th of October, against Ecuador and Paraguay, respectively.

Working with Messi

At the conclusion of both matches, Luis García will pack up and travel back to Barcelona to start working with Messi in his recovery.