Just when you thought nothing could go wrong for the first-place Giallorossi, disaster struck in perhaps the most Roma Happened way possible. Among the list of players Roma could ill afford to lose, we could toss out names like Paulo Dybala, Donyell Malen, and even young Wesley França, but the man at the very back, Mile Svilar, is arguably the most irreplaceable name in the lineup.
Unfortunately, Gian Piero Gasperini and the Giallorossi will have to do just that. Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's crucial fixture against Como, Gasperini announced that Svilar has suffered a non-displaced fracture of his fifth toe , or what many of our mothers likely called the pinky toe.
"Unfortunately, we lost Svilar for a few weeks. He suffered a stress fracture during a push in training, not a particularly severe one, in his fifth toe, slightly lower down. This fracture occurred, which isn't displaced, but it will take at least a month to heal. They're evaluating whether to insert a brace, a screw, and this will likely delay his recovery until after the next break. Unfortunately, it's a tough blow, but sometimes, in very long seasons, unexpected things like this can happen."
On the surface, this doesn't seem like a major deal. After all, the fracture is non-displaced, meaning the bone hasn't shifted out of its natural alignment and could heal without surgery. For us normies, a fractured little toe wouldn't cause much interference in our daily lives, but for an elite goalkeeper like Svilar, who constantly has to make explosive push-offs (charging off the line, diving to the ground and then springing back up), the pain is more of an issue.
While it would be great if Svilar were a middle linebacker and could just tape it up and play through the pain, the truth is that, given the demands of his position, he would risk further damage. So, while we wait for further news, it's time for Pierluigi Gollini to step into the spotlight.
But it's no biggie; it's not like he's being asked to stop Como and Real Madrid in the span of three days… gulp .
