Maravilla Martínez felt discomfort in his right knee during the second leg of the Recopa Sudamericana against Botafogo. The combination of the synthetic grass at Estadio Olímpico Nilton Santos and the logical fatigue from the match forced the forward to be substituted with clear signs of pain, having to watch from the bench as his teammates celebrated the title they won.
Days later, the Racing player was informed of the medical details of his condition: bone edema in the internal tibial plateau. This injury involves inflammation or fluid accumulation in the bone marrow area that can take weeks or months to fully heal.
La lesión de Maravilla Martínez
Despite this, Maravilla was determined to play against Independiente and spoke with his coach, Gustavo Costas. "I want to be there. I have to be there." he told him. Ignoring medical advice, the forward and the coach began to plan for the Sunday classic, and today, the coach tested the player.
In training, Martínez played with the starting team against the youth players and replied well, without clear signs of pain (or at least hiding it). With this performance, and if no setbacks occur, the number 9 would be in the starting XI to play against Rojo, which will likely be as follows:
Goalkeeper: Gabriel Arias
Defenders: Marco Di Cesare/Santiago Quirós, Santiago Sosa, Nazareno Colombo, Gastón Martirena
Midfielders: Juan Nardoni, Agustín Almendra, Gabriel Rojas, Santiago Solari
Forwards: Maximiliano Salas, ADRIÁN "MARAVILLA" MARTÍNEZ
Martínez y Costas, una relación de mucha confianza
