The alarm sounds again for the Argentine team: Lo Celso was injured and was replaced after 24 minutes of the Villarreal match

* The moment in which the former Central felt the pull

The Qatar World Cup 2022 is getting closer and when a soccer player from the Argentine national team feel discomfort in one of the last games before the stoppage, the alarms scream. It happened, for example, with Angel Di Maria, Leandro Paredes or, above all, with paulo dybala, the most complicated. And this Sunday the scare was caused by Giovani Lo Celso.

The 26-year-old midfielder had been suffering from muscular discomfort, a fact for which he had been being cared for by the Villarreal in training and some commitment. When it was 24 minutes into the match between his team and Athletic Bilbao for the Spanish League, the former Rosario Central threw a cue on the edge of the area and then the back of the right thigh was taken. Immediately afterwards, she sat down on the grass, in an unmistakable signal requesting a change, and lowered her right stocking to expose the cufflink.

the brand new coach Quique Setien (took the place of Unai Emery) replaced him with Manu Trigueros. It is worth remembering that Lo Celso is a key piece and a starter in the structure of Lionel Scaloni in the Albiceleste, with which he became champion of the Copa América at the Maracaná stadium in mid-2021, after beating local Brazil in the definition.

* The player sat on the grass waiting for the modification

Not only Argentina feels the absence of former PSG and Tottenham: Villarreal, who rounded off an interesting game in his presence, dropped their level significantly when he was replaced. Setién approached him to comfort him and talk to him while he went to the substitute bench.

remains to know if you requested the change as soon as you felt the pull or if there is muscle rupture. In that case, following the normal canons, the recovery could take around three weeks, so at least he would arrive very forced to the debut in Qatar on November 22 against Saudi Arabia or he would directly miss it; as long as he doesn’t put his spot on the 26-man World Cup roster at risk.

Lo Celso makes up the team’s usual midfield, along with Leandro Paredes and Rodrigo de Paul; and behind the trident Di María-Messi and Lautaro Martínez. He is vital both in pressure and on the playing circuit, becoming one of the captain’s main partners. After not getting filming at Tottenham, he moved to Villarreal, where he became the axis and figure.

Was it a false alarm? Or does it represent a serious problem for Argentina?

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