Olympiacos loses Santiago Esé for six weeks or more with knee injury

What happened against PAOK

Olympiacos drew 1-1 with PAOK in the 10th round of the Stoiximan Super League on Sunday, 8 November. Santiago Esé started the match but had to come off in the 56th minute, with Gustavo Puerta taking his place. After the final whistle, the club's head of medical staff, Christos Theos, said the first assessment pointed to damage to the medial collateral ligament of the knee. Head coach Imanol Alguacil said at his press conference that the early signs were not encouraging and that the club would wait for the final tests before drawing conclusions. The 25-year-old Argentine midfielder's inner knee ligament was the area of concern from the start.

The scan and the recovery estimate

The MRI scan took place at the Nea Faliro Medical Centre on Monday, 9 November, and confirmed the medial collateral ligament injury to the knee. Sport24, as cited by NEWS 24/7, reported that Esé went for the scan the same day. Esé has already started an intensive treatment programme, and the medical staff are monitoring his rehabilitation every day. Estimates of his absence differ between outlets. Skai gave a range of four to six weeks, a figure that Kostas Nikolakopoulos also reported, while NEWS 24/7 and Nautemporiki put it at at least six weeks. NewsIT and in.gr described the absence as about one and a half months, and in.gr placed his return in early in the new year. Skai said that in the best case he returns shortly before the holidays and plays a few matches, and otherwise his comeback comes after the Christmas break.

Fixtures before the winter break

Olympiacos has eight matches left before the winter break, and Esé is likely to miss all of them. He is expected to miss five Super League games: at home to Heracles on 22 November, away at Aris on 29 November, at home to AEK on 5 December, away at Atromitos on 13 December and at home to Panaitolikos on 20 December. In Europe he is set to miss the home match against Milan on 26 November and the away game at Celje on 10 December. The list also includes the Greek Cup derby against Panathinaikos on 2 December.

Super League5

Europa League2

Greek Cup1

Super League

5 matches

Europa League

2 matches

Greek Cup

1 matches

Data from the article text

Impact on the squad

Esé has 15 appearances in all competitions this season, with 943 minutes played and one goal, the winning strike in Marseille. Alguacil now has to adjust his plans, since after the international break he cannot count on the 25-year-old midfielder. The eight fixtures fall between 22 November and 20 December, which leaves the coach little room to rotate without the player. The club's medical staff will keep tracking his recovery as the weeks pass, and the exact return date will depend on how the rehabilitation progresses.