Celta's Pablo Durán limps off in tears with knee ligament injury against Mallorca
Celta Vigo forward Pablo Durán was forced off before half-time against Mallorca with a medial ligament sprain in his left knee, leaving the pitch in tears.
Horrible scenes at Balaídos on Saturday as Celta Vigo forward Pablo Durán was stretchered out of the Celta-Mallorca match before half-time, visibly distressed and in a fair amount of pain.
What happened?
With about five minutes left of the first half, Durán slipped awkwardly on the turf — his legs went in opposite directions and he immediately clutched the back of his left knee. Not a great sight, that.
The medical staff came on to assess him, and for a brief moment it looked like he might actually carry on. He got back up and tried to continue — fair play to the lad for trying — but it wasn’t long before he was back down on the grass, clearly struggling.
The diagnosis
Celta have confirmed it’s a sprain to the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee. The MCL — or ligamento lateral interno as they call it in Spain — is one of those injuries that can range from “back in a few weeks” to “see you in a few months” depending on the severity. No official timeline has been put out yet, so Celta fans will be sweating on the full extent of the damage.
An emotional exit
What made this one particularly gutting to watch was the manner of his departure:
- He left the pitch in tears, pulling his shirt up over his face to hide them
- His teammates came over to console him, as did several Mallorca players — proper show of solidarity from both sides
- The whole stadium clearly felt for him as he made the slow walk down the tunnel with the medical team
Look, footballers are human beings at the end of the day, and seeing a young lad hobble off crying while his mates try to hold it together around him — that hits different, doesn’t it?
What it means for Celta
Durán’s injury is a blow for Celta, who were already navigating a tricky run of fixtures. Losing a forward option — even temporarily — is never ideal, and the timing couldn’t be much worse. The club will be hoping the ligament damage is on the lighter end of the spectrum when the full scans come back.
For now, all thoughts are with Pablo. Get well soon, mate.