Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag didn’t appear optimistic about the potentially serious injury to Lisandro Martinez in the closing stages of his team’s 2-2 draw with Sevilla on Thursday.
United had led 2-0 in the game and seemed to be cruising towards a fourth Europa League semi-final in the space of seven seasons. But two late own goals from Tyrell Malacia and Harry Maguire gave an otherwise poor Sevilla a renewed foothold in the tie before the second leg in Spain.
To make matters worse, Martinez was carried off the pitch with the Premier League side leading 2-1. At that stage, Ten Hag has used all five of his permitted substitutions, leaving United to finish the game with 10 player and, ultimately, concede the second goal.
Martinez, who has become a firm fan favourite since joining from Ajax last summer, was running with the ball towards the end of the game but suddenly went down under no pressure from an opponent – the Argentine was worryingly clutching the back of his right foot and ankle.
He appeared to be in some level of pain and discomfort straightaway and was carried from the pitch by international teammates Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna instead of waiting for a stretcher. Once at the side, an upset Martinez was taken inside on the stretcher by the medical team.
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“We’ve seen Lisandro drops out after a moment where there was no opponent involved so it does not look great,” Ten Hag told BT Sport. “I can’t say [how serious it is] at this moment.”
The United boss also confirmed that the reason for withdrawing Raphael Varane at half-time was the result of an injury, the full extent of which is not yet known.
The consensus speculation on Martinez, based on the way he went down and appeared to immediately know something was wrong, is that it could be an Achilles problem. The worst case scenario would be a ruptured Achilles tendon, a serious injury that usually takes in excess of six months and sometimes up to a year from which to fully recover.
United staff and fans alike will be praying it isn’t that serious. But more information will become available in the coming days once tests and scans are carried out.
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