André Horta's injury nightmare continues as Almería loanee suffers fresh setback
André Horta has picked up a soleus muscle injury in his left leg, his second layoff of the season on loan at Almería from Braga.
The Portuguese midfielder just cannot catch a break at Almería — and the timing, once again, is absolutely brutal.
The bad luck keeps on coming
André Horta had finally started to look like he was nailing down a regular spot in Rubi’s starting eleven. Two consecutive starts, a bit of momentum building — and then, just like that, he’s back on the treatment table.
After coming through the game at Cádiz seemingly fine, Horta withdrew from a separate training session earlier this week complaining of discomfort in his calf area. Almería subsequently confirmed the worst: a muscular injury to the soleus of his left leg, with no return date given.
A season that just won’t go his way
This is the second proper injury lay-off of the campaign for the Braga loanee, and it’s fair to say the bloke’s season has been a right old mess. Here’s how it’s stacked up:
- October: Picked up a right quadriceps injury in training ahead of the Zaragoza home game — just after starting at Riazor against Deportivo. Missed four league games and one Copa match.
- Early January: Missed the Granada fixture through illness.
- Now: Soleus injury, already ruled out for the last two matchdays and set to miss Friday’s trip to Albacete at the very least.
That’s eight matches absent across the season already, and the number is only going up. For a player who was supposed to be finding his feet in the second tier of Spanish football, it’s been an absolute nightmare.
What it means for Rubi
Rubi had been cautiously optimistic about Horta before the Andorra fixture — the game the Portuguese ultimately couldn’t feature in — but the manager has since confirmed he won’t be available for Albacete either. Given the nature of soleus injuries, a few more weeks on the sidelines feels like the realistic expectation.
It’s a proper headache for Almería, who are already navigating a tricky run of fixtures in Segunda División.
Some better news elsewhere
Not everything is doom and gloom at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos, mind:
- Lopy looks set to return after nearly two months out with a right rectus femoris injury sustained in early January — Rubi sounded optimistic when asked about the Senegalese midfielder.
- Baba is also back after serving his suspension.
- Álex Muñoz and Embarba, however, are now both facing suspension after picking up their own disciplinary thresholds — so Rubi’s squad management headaches aren’t going away anytime soon.
For Horta though, it’s just about getting fit and staying fit. At this rate, a clean run of games before the season ends would feel like a proper result in itself.