Medical experts: Mbappé needs conservative treatment; most players can recover

Spanish injury expert Ángel Villanueva said that Mbappé's knee injury is complex, and whether to continue the game is a sensitive decision involving both medical and competitive aspects.

Mbappé may bid farewell to the season early. His situation has become a problem, and all parties are studying it and plan to make an important decision in the next few days. Real Madrid has begun to worry that the team may lose him for the rest of the season, just like Rodrygo. The reason is that the player is currently not very willing to force a comeback because he faces a great risk of serious injury, and the World Cup is coming soon. The sprain in Mbappé's left knee could develop into a posterior cruciate ligament tear if he continues to play reluctantly. This injury may be more serious than the current external discussions. At the same time, Real Madrid will usher in a key stage of the season in the next few weeks, and the team seems likely to have to cope without this French player.

Injury expert Ángel Villanueva analyzed the injury of the French winger. He believes that the problem is not just the pain the player feels. Villanueva said: "The real risk right now is not just the pain, but the compensatory load." When the posterior cruciate ligament cannot provide enough stability to the knee joint, other structures will undertake work beyond their own load.

Villanueva pointed out that this situation can form a chain reaction inside the joint. He said: "When the posterior cruciate ligament cannot normally stabilize the knee joint, other structures will be subjected to greater pressure, such as the anterior cruciate ligament, meniscus, femoral-tibial cartilage and surrounding muscles." In his opinion, this is where the real problem begins to appear, because the risk of secondary injury will be significantly increased.

The expert also pointed out that if the player continues to participate in the competition, the pressure from the intensive schedule may significantly aggravate the injury. Villanueva said: "The cumulative pressure of games and training may cause the original partial tear to develop into a complete tear." In addition, he also mentioned that persistent inflammation or changes in the knee joint movement mechanism may also occur.

In this case, the injury may have more serious consequences. Villanueva said: "If it develops to that point, the overall situation will completely deteriorate. Long-term posterior displacement will change the force distribution of the knee joint and may accelerate the wear and tear of the femoral-tibial joint compartment. In the case of a simple partial tear of the posterior cruciate ligament, its healing ability is usually better, and conservative treatment can often achieve good results." However, he also emphasized that allowing players to continue participating in the competition in this state is never a decision that can be made rashly.

In the expert's view, conservative treatment for Mbappé requires extremely precise control of physical training. Villanueva said: "The core of treatment is to prioritize strength training, while finely managing the training load, performing daily symptom monitoring, and gradually improving motor control ability." He emphasized that for this plan to work, the player must maintain a high degree of discipline in each stage of recovery.

"If the conservative treatment plan is well designed, about 80% to 90% of athletes can return to their previous level. In the case of a partial tear of the posterior cruciate ligament, continuing to compete in top competitions is theoretically feasible, but each game is actually a biomechanical adventure."