It can be tough for an older player once their body starts to break down and they pick up injuries on a regular basis.
The press will label them as injury-prone and it might give the manager second thoughts about selecting them in important games. It can even lead to the player trying to play through injuries to prove they aren’t injury-prone – something that will most likely just make any issues worse and leave them out for longer.
Marcelo has started to pick up a few niggling injuries for Real Madrid in the past few years. His most recent problem came when he was forced off in the first half of Real’s Champions League tie vs Galatasaray.
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At that time Marca reported it was already his third injury of the season and it wasn’t really clear how long he would be out for this time.
It turns out there was no reason to worry about it being a long-term absence, because today’s report from AS has indicated he’s now back in full training for the club. They even suggest he might be fit to play in Real’s game next Saturday after the international break.
There’s no official word from the club over the left-back situation for now, but it does seem like Marcelo will slot straight back into the side. His injuries have given Ferland Mendy a chance to establish himself but he’s not been overly impressive in his outings so far.
Everything looks positive for Marcelo just now, so let’s hope he doesn’t pick up any further injuries for the rest of the season.