River received very bad news after the 0-0 draw against Independiente in Avellaneda. Germán Pezzella suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and will be ruled out for the rest of the season and most of the first half of next year.
Near the end of the first half, the center-back committed a foul on Walter Mazzantti, got caught up, and suffered a movement in his knee that left him lying on the field. He was quickly attended to and requested a substitution, leaving the field in tears while his teammates approached to comfort him.
The defender will have to undergo surgery in the coming days and recovery will take approximately eight months. This way, Pezzella will miss the remainder of the year and the start of the next season.
Pezzella se lesionó en la disputa con Mazzanti
Gallardo's opinion
In the press conference after the clásico with Rojo, the Millonario head coach was asked about the large number of injured players in the squad.
"We had a bad streak that continued today with Germán Pezzella's injury, about which I will be cautious and wait for the results. Martínez Quarta, Salas, Driussi are added to the list... there are several players we're trying to recover. Paulo Díaz had a swollen knee these days and we'll see how he is by Thursday," said Muñeco about the long list of names occupying the club's infirmary.
Gallardo lamentó la mala racha de lesionados en River
In that regard, he left the door open to a possible last-minute change for the trip to Paraguay. "Given this exception, which is a necessity, we'll see about Portillo. He recovered from the injury he arrived with, but he hasn't trained for a long time and we're looking for his best form. We had considered him for the following match, against Godoy Cruz. We'll see if he joins, we have to evaluate from now until Wednesday," anticipated the Millonario coach.
Muñeco's team will play the first leg of the cup series without one of its defensive pillars, at a key moment in the season and with several players in the infirmary.
