Spain and Barcelona are lamenting their luck after Gavi went down with an anterior cruciate ligament tear on Sunday night, which will keep him out for the rest of the season.
The 19-year-old is set to be out for between six and nine months, and it has caused no end of frustration for fans of both, and desolation for those around him. Barcelona were reportedly furious that Gavi had played 90 minutes against Cyprus, and then started against Georgia.
Gavi came off after 27 minutes, but had been treated for knee issues from an earlier challenge, but was allowed to continue.
“I had hoped that the injury was of different magnitude, but when I saw the first action in which his knee had a sudden turn, I lost 99% of hope. Everything indicates that it is a cruciate tear. For me, he breaks down in the first action,” Ripoll told Cadena SER, referring to an earlier issue when Gavi is treated by the medical staff, but allowed to continue.
Ripoll continued on to explain that regardless of who footballers were playing for, the number of games are placing unfair demands on footballer.
“All injuries have to do with the number of games played by footballers. The more you run and play, the worse it is. The national teams want to win and so do the clubs. This is not going to change. What we have to do is adapt the rules and calendars. Something must be done to adapt to the current situation. They have to distribute the hours that footballers play.”
He joined the calls for a rethink in terms of the number of games footballers are playing.
“The figures do not seem very reasonable. A footballer can play a high number of games, but these breaks, we have to stop and think and look for a solution. When they go to the National Team the ‘chip’ changes; they all start from 0, they are not sure of their place, as they are in their club sides.”
