According to The Athletic, the bad news for Ten Hag when his favorite central defender duo, Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, is likely to be out for the rest of this season.
On April 14, MU disappointed when Sevilla held a 2-2 draw in the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League 2022/23, not only that, they also lost the first pair of central defenders Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez because of injury. Raphael Varane had to leave the field early, making way for captain Harry Maguire at the start of the second half.
At the end of the second half, Lisandro Martinez did not collide with anyone but was also suddenly lying on the field because of the pain. He even had to ask for the help of Sevilla players to be able to leave the field in the second half. Especially when Martinez was injured, MU was only able to play with 10 people because he had run out of substitutions. As a result, MU was conceded for the second time by Sevilla in the last minute of injury time.
At this time, the situation of Martinez and Varane is still not really clear, but according to The Athletic, they will rest for the rest of this season after the injuries encountered. Specifically, both have relatively serious problems, and the 2022/23 season is over for them.
Martinez had broken the fifth bone of his right foot, while Varane had an Achilles injury. If both miss the rest of the season, Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof will become MU’s No 1 central defender pair from now until the end of the season.
Can Rashford return soon?
Ten Hag certainly does not expect this to be true because MU is in the battle for a place in the Top 4 in the Premier League to secure a place in the Champions League next season, they are also hoping for more titles when they have reached the semi-finals of the FA. Cup and quarter-finals of the Europa League. Now the loss of two top central defenders is greatly affecting Ten Hag’s calculations.
Good news from Rashford, Shaw and McTominay
Coach Ten Hag in the press conference before the match against Nottingham on April 16 said: We have two more training sessions before the Nottingham Forest match. So at this point I don’t know for sure who will be absent or available. But I can confirm Luke Shaw and McTominay will be back in the squad.”
Before that, Luke Shaw missed the last 2 matches because of injury. The England player was injured in the match against Brentford on April 6. As for McTominay, the Scotland international missed the draw with Sevilla for an undisclosed reason.
In addition, MU is likely to have the service of Rashford in the rematch with Sevilla in Spain next week. This is quoted by The Athletic as saying: “There is a chance that Rashford could return for the Sevilla rematch next week but I cannot confirm that at this time.”
If Rashford can quickly return, it will be a big boost for MU, the team is suffering from an injury storm. Not long ago, Rashford was hurt in the MU 2-0 Everton match, had to leave the field in the 81st minute. He had a groin strain – it usually takes 3-6 weeks to recover.
