Granada's Engine Room Stalls: Alcaraz Out for a Month With Hamstring Injury
Rubén Alcaraz faces around a month on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, leaving Granada short in midfield at a crucial stage of the Segunda División season.
Granada have been navigating the injury minefield reasonably well this season — but right now, it’s fair to say the wheels are coming off a bit.
The Damage
Rubén Alcaraz limped out of the match at the Alfonso Murube early with a muscular problem, and the subsequent medical tests have confirmed the worst. The Catalan midfielder has suffered a muscle fibre tear in his left hamstring — the sort of thing that keeps a player out for roughly a month.
That means Granada fans can almost certainly pencil him out of the upcoming fixtures against:
- Málaga
- Deportivo de La Coruña
- Andorra
- Real Sociedad B
Four big games, all without their midfield anchor. Proper bad timing, that.
Why It Hurts So Much
This isn’t just any squad player going down. Alcaraz has been one of Pacheta’s most trusted operators since the very first whistle of the campaign — 20 starts to his name, acting as the glue that holds Granada’s midfield together. The bloke is captain, leader, and effectively the team’s metronome. Lose him, and the whole rhythm of the side can go sideways.
And it’s not like he’s the only one in the treatment room, either. Sergio Ruiz is also currently sidelined, meaning Pacheta has lost two key central midfielders in one fell swoop. Casadesús has also had his issues in recent weeks. Granada’s injury record, which had been fairly kind up to now, has suddenly turned on them.
How Pacheta Might Cope
The manager has a couple of options to reshape his engine room:
- Keep the three-man midfield by slotting Trigueros in alongside Izan and Alemañ
- Go with two central mids and push José Arnáiz into a more advanced, number ten-style role — a setup Pacheta has used before
Neither solution is ideal, if we’re being honest. Granada’s squad is young and relatively inexperienced at this level, which makes Alcaraz’s leadership off the ball just as valuable as his contributions on it.
The Bigger Picture
This is a genuinely tricky moment for the Andalusian side. They’re at a stage of the Segunda División season where every point is proper dog and bone territory, and having to reshuffle the midfield without your captain and your main enforcer is far from ideal. Pacheta will need to find answers — and quickly.