Hugo Ekitike’s images, grimacing in pain before breaking down in tears in the rain of Liverpool, left little doubt on Tuesday as to the seriousness of his injury. The verdict came on Wednesday: ruptured Achilles tendon, and inevitably, he will miss the World Cup. The forward for Les Bleus and the Reds was abruptly halted in his tracks during this Champions League quarter-final second leg, won by PSG (0-2).
It was in the 28th minute of the match when the French international found himself on the ground. The game was quickly stopped. It was initially thought that there may have been a clash with Willian Pacho. But it was alone that the former Reims player suffered a serious injury to his right foot. At the moment, he was holding the back of his ankle, trying to get up first, then a second time but ultimately couldn’t stand. “If he stops suddenly, it’s because he feels he has no strength in his calf and can no longer roll his foot, and get on his toes,” analyzes Marc Rozenblat, sports doctor. It could feel like being hit from behind.
“A fraction of a second can be enough to rupture the tendon”
According to the healthcare professional, “a wrong technical move” like “a bad push-off or a bad control on an impulse or a reception”, even with a relatively high intensity, can be the cause of the injury. “A fraction of a second spent in a wrong position can be enough to rupture the Achilles tendon,” he says. And in most cases, according to him, the affected organ is healthy, with no particular precedent.
Most of the time, it is in an area – “very poorly vascularized” – located two or three centimeters from the attachment of the calcaneum (the bone that makes up the heel of the foot) that the Achilles tendon ruptures, according to Marc Rozenblat. This is when the first test comes, probably the one carried out by Liverpool’s doctors directly on the Anfield pitch or shortly after in the locker room. “When we examine and massage the calf, if the foot no longer moves, it means that there is no longer any communication between the two and this confirms the rupture,” he adds.
The same injury for Koscielny before the 2018 World Cup
This injury, one of the most serious for a player in activity, is not as frequent as a knee ligament rupture but it has, before Hugo Ekitike, forced other players to stop. In 2018, a few weeks before the World Cup, it was Laurent Koscielny who suffered. He was out of action for a total of seven months.
In 2024, after the Olympics, Brestois Bradley Locko was also affected and experienced a sensation probably similar to that experienced by Hugo Ekitike on Tuesday. “I was struck down,” he told Ouest-France when describing the pain experienced during training. Before him, it was Presnel Kimpembe, injured with PSG in February 2023 during a Ligue 1 match against Marseille, who struggled to make a comeback. A special case as the defender had to be reoperated nearly ten months after the first intervention.
If surgery is not mandatory according to Marc Rozenblat, it is very often preferred by high-level athletes. For now, Liverpool has not communicated on the care program of its player but he will have to be immobilized for at least several weeks. “If all goes well, training with a physiotherapist and physical preparation can start in as little as three months. A return to top level competition is possible within four months,” adds the doctor. In 2009, Sydney Govou, the former Lyon pro, managed a quick return within this timeframe.
Hugo Ekitike will therefore need patience before returning to the field. The injury “is complicated, as healing takes a long time and is subject to many constraints. It is a tendon that bears a lot of loads,” explained Fabrice Bryand, former doctor of the French team (2010-2012) when commenting on Presnel Kimpembe’s injury. “In principle, the risk of recurrence is not higher on the affected tendon, as it will thicken when it reforms, but it is the other leg that could be affected,” warns Marc Rozenblat. To avoid it, investigating the causes of the injury may include a postural study.
