Barcelona are flying high under Hansi Flick. The Catalonia club have won all their four matches so far and are looking like a strong team under their new German coach.
However, the team was rocked with a season-ending injury to star midfielder Marc Bernal.
In just his third official game, the defensive midfielder who has been tipped to play at the highest level tore his ACL and is set to be out for a year. As is the norm after a cruciate ligament rupture, Bernal must now go under the blade to facilitate a complete recovery.
As reported by Mundo Deportivo, a date has finally been set for the 17-year-old’s surgical intervention. He will be operated on later this week, on Wednesday, September 4th.
The surgery will be carried out by Dr. Joan Carles Monllau with supervision by Barcelona’s medical head Dr. Ricard Pruna.
Marc Bernal with a injury during the LaLiga EA Sports match between Rayo Vallecano v FC Barcelona at the Campo de Futbol de Vallecas (Photo by Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)
Monllau is immensely experienced in the field of sports injuries and, in fact, also operated on Gavi’s ACL injury last season. Among others he has overseen surgeries for are Alexia Putellas, Phillipe Coutinho, Martin Braithwaite and Sergio Lozano.
While the blow to Bernal is indeed a stern one, there is good reason to believe that he will be able to return to his best version.
For starters, his body is still young and growing and at 17 years of age, is well-equipped to regenerate and repair.
Further, his position on the field does not require immense bursts of speed to put pressure on the ligaments in the future to threaten a relapse.
Barcelona will be eager to have Bernal back on the pitch in the next few months.
