Yuri Alberto has a muscle injury and will be out for at least 2 months

The least of the evils. Even so, Corinthians will be without Yuri Alberto for at least two months. Image tests carried out this Monday confirmed a grade two muscle injury in the left thigh and the top scorer is already out of the entire final stretch of Paulistão.

“This Monday (16), striker Yuri Alberto underwent an MRI and the examination identified a grade 2 muscle injury in the biceps femoris of his left thigh. The athlete has already started the recovery process with the club’s physiotherapy team”, informed Corinthians.

Yuri Alberto felt the problem alone on the visit to São Bernardo (1-0 victory), when he tried to win a ball at speed on the edge of the field and fell, putting his hand on the back of his thigh. He was crying, complaining about the serious injury and had to be carried off the field.

There was a fear for the Corinthians player that it was a grade three injury, in which recovery takes at least three months. With the diagnosis two months old, Yuri Alberto is expected to be absent from the field for the next eight weeks.

If Corinthians reaches the defense of the Paulistão title, with the final scheduled for March 8, there would be four games without their number 9, starting with the fourth against Portuguesa. In the Brasileirão, they will not face Athletico-PR, Cruzeiro, Coritiba, Santos, Chapecoense, Flamengo, Fluminense, Internacional and Palmeiras. A return, still uncertain, would be on April 19th, against Vitória. He may also be left out of the start of the Libertadores.

Interestingly, Yuri Alberto was being spared against São Bernardo precisely to avoid wear and tear and injuries. The need to win for a place in the Paulistão quarterfinals forced Dorival Júnior to place him after another poor performance from young Gui Negão. Now, in addition to the boy, the coach has little used Pedro Raúl for the vacancy – the club wanted to use him as a bargaining chip for reinforcements.

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