The knee injury of Luis Diaz is still a concern. When is the Colombian International returning to the squad?
An evaluation of the knee injury to Luis Diaz
How serious is Luis Diaz’s second knee injury, and how does it relate to his first knee injury, which will keep him out of action until March? Diaz first suffered a left knee injury in an altercation with Thomas Partey, an Arsenal midfielder, in October and was thus sidelined until after the World Cup.
Although Diaz’s injury details were never officially confirmed, based on the mechanism of injury (how it happened) and stated timing, it almost sounded like medial collateral ligament damage (MCL).
A possible return date for Diaz
Regardless of the precise diagnosis, Diaz’s physical therapy return to play procedure appeared to be on track and moving forward without any glitches when he resumed full squad training during the club’s warm-weather World Cup break in Dubai (a second pre-season for all intents and purposes).
However, according to the gaffer Jurgen Klopp, “he felt something” in the knee during practice. Even though Diaz felt OK the next day, the team chose to be excessively cautious and had him undergo imaging for a thorough evaluation.
Diaz would now need surgery because it was determined that he had damaged his lateral collateral ligament (LCL) (note, his first knee injury did not require surgery).
Its main function is to support the knee joint’s (tibiofemoral joint) resistance to “varus” force, or force that crosses the knee from outward to inside. However, the stabilizing LCL can extend and sustain injury when the knee is subjected to forces that are above its typical threshold and beyond its normal range of motion.
Depending on the amount of power and stretching that was used, the ligament can sustain an injury of varying degrees of severity. According to the magnitude of the ripping, this injury is sometimes divided into three grades: grade 1 denotes a tear of less than 25%, grade 2 a tear of between 25-75%, and grade 3 a rupture of more than 75%. Although these categories provide a clear, concise picture of the damage, there is usually a great deal of ambiguity.
Thus, the Liverpool forward is now working on his recovery and the Reds fans could see him making a comeback in the month of March. To be precise, the Colombian could have a say in the return leg against Real Madrid.
