Expert details injury issue that ruled Yuri Alberto out for Corinthians | OneFootball

Yuri Alberto remains out of Corinthians’ recent matches due to a setback during the recovery from an injury to the back of his right thigh. During the healing process, the striker developed muscle fibrosis in the affected area, a condition that still interferes with the recovery of strength and mobility. The issue ended up preventing the player from taking part in both matches against Estudiantes in the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals.

To explain the situation, sports orthopedist and traumatologist Bruno Canizares detailed how fibrosis forms after a muscle injury. According to the specialist, it is scar tissue produced by the body itself to repair the injured area.

Photo: Rodrigo Gazzanel / Agência Corinthians

“Up to a certain point, this is expected and is part of the recovery. The problem is when that scar becomes more rigid or is not yet sufficiently remodeled to withstand the loads the muscle will be subjected to, especially in a high-performance athlete”, Bruno Canizares explained in contact with the Meu Timão portal.

The existence of fibrosis, by itself, does not necessarily indicate that Yuri is still in pain. The athlete may have a normal routine and even perform lower-intensity activities without discomfort, but that does not mean he is fit to handle the physical demands of a professional match. “Being pain-free does not necessarily mean being ready to return to the sport”, he said.

The back of the thigh plays an important role in movements that are frequent in football, such as bursts, high-speed runs, braking, changes of direction, and sprints. For this reason, the return to the pitch needs to happen gradually, with a progressive increase in workload.

“There is a huge difference between a player being able to run and being able to run at maximum speed. Very often, the problem only appears precisely when he starts getting close to the speeds and intensities he will face during a match”, the professional explained.

Yuri Alberto’s recovery had another episode during this process. The striker suffered a partial rupture of the fibrosis that had formed in the injured area. In Canizares’ assessment, the situation represents a setback in the treatment and can be understood as a regression in relation to the initial injury. “When we talk about a partial rupture of this fibrosis, it means that this scar tissue area was once again overloaded before it was fully adapted to the demands of the sport”, he said.

The severity of the new issue depends on what is found in the tests. Depending on the extent of the damage, the condition may even be considered a recurrence of the muscle injury. Since he did not have access to the tests carried out on Yuri Alberto, however, the specialist stresses that it is not possible to precisely determine the size of the new injury.

The decision to clear an athlete to return to matches is not determined exclusively by the results of imaging exams. The medical staff also takes into account factors such as absence of pain, range of motion, recovery of muscle strength, comparison between both legs, and performance in functional tests.

In the specific case of a football player, it is also necessary to check whether he can perform high-intensity actions, including sprints, accelerations, decelerations, changes of direction, and maximum-speed runs. The ability to withstand increasingly demanding training sessions is also part of the process before clearance.

“Imaging helps a lot, but it does not decide on its own. An MRI may continue to show changes even in an athlete who is already clinically recovered. And the opposite can also happen: an apparently good image does not guarantee that the muscle is ready to handle a sprint at 30 or 35 kilometers per hour during a match”, the doctor said.

Without Yuri Alberto, Corinthians drew 1-1 with Estudiantes in Argentina and later lost 1-0 to the Argentine side at Neo Química Arena. The results sealed the São Paulo club’s elimination in the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals.

Corinthians expect to have the striker available again after the FIFA international break, which ends at the beginning of October. The team’s next match after the pause is scheduled for October 7 at 7:30 p.m. against Internacional at Beira-Rio Stadium.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.