6 big-name stars who picked up an injury over the international break

Important players from Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Liverpool are among those who picked up injuries over the March international break.

The business end of 2024-25 is officially here following the final international break of the season, with the title races Europe’s major leagues set to be decided alongside the small matter of the Champions League knockout stages.

Losing a player at this point in the campaign is the last thing every club still fighting for silverware needs.

Here are six players who picked up injuries over the past fortnight. We’ve broken down the issues and included their reported return dates.

Alphonso Davies

A sickener, this one. Something that every club manager dreads when sending their players away for the international break.

Bayern boss Vincent Kompany will be gutted that his first-choice left-back Davies will be out for the remainder of the season after suffering a serious ACL injury in Canada’s Nations League victory over the United States.

Davies’ lightning-fast pace will be much missed as they look to navigate a Champions League double-header against Inter next month, with Barcelona or Borussia Dortmund to come in the semis should they make it through.

And there’s extra controversy, given that Davies’ agent Nedal Huoseh has blamed the Canadian FA and the head coach, former Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch, for the injury.

“Alphonso was not 100% after the Mexico game and it was planned that he was not going to start against the USA,” Huoseh’s statement read.

“As a captain I feel he was pressured to start the game by the coach. Alphonso is not the kind of guy to say no in those moments. He ended up playing and look what happened. Canada Soccer needs to do a better job managing these players, in my opinion.”

Dayot Upamecano

Davies wasn’t the only injury blow suffered by Bayern.

Upamecano played all 120 minutes of France’s second-leg Nations League clash with Croatia and even scored the winning penalty in the shootout, but upon returning to his club it was discovered that he’d picked up a knee injury.

Bayern confirmed that the centre-back will miss “a period of weeks”, but French outlet Le Parisien have since suggested that he could be out until the tail-end of the season.

“Unfortunately, there’s always the risk of players returning from international breaks with injuries – this time we’ve been hit particularly hard,” responded Bayern board member Max Eberl.

“The absence of Alphonso Davies and Dayot Upamecano weighs heavily on FC Bayern.”

Chris Wood

New Zealand booked their place at next year’s World Cup with a 3-0 victory over minnows New Caledonia, but star man Wood was withdrawn early in the second half.

An unwelcome development for Nottingham Forest, given the striker is enjoying the season of his life and firing their against-all-odds push for Champions League qualification.

“That’s where the pain is at the moment,” the striker told New Zealand radio station RNZ.

“I felt it on that side, so I’ll get it checked over and hopefully it is nothing too major and hopefully it’s just impact.”

We await the news of a scan that he reportedly had on Tuesday, but reports suggest that Forest are “cautiously optimistic” their top scorer has avoided serious injury.

You imagine that Nuno Espirito Santo won’t want to risk him in Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Brighton, but it’s expected he’ll be back for the Premier League run-in.

Alisson

“Alisson is travelling back to Merseyside and will undergo assessment from the Reds’ medical staff,” announced Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar after the Liverpool ‘keeper suffered a suspected concussion following a nasty collision with former Tottenham defender Davinson Sanchez in Brazil’s 2-1 victory over Colomvia.

“[Alisson] suffered a trauma to the head region, he was replaced [due to] a suspected concussion,” Lasmar told CNN Brazil.

“Alisson is normal, with no complaints. He reported no fainting and no memory loss. He thought he was a little slower [and with] this complaint the recommendation is the replacement of the player.”

The 32-year-old subsequently missed Brazil’s bruising 4-1 defeat to Argentina. He’s since posted on Instagram, reassuring Liverpool fans that he’s “fine – just have to follow the protocols.”

Reds boss Arne Slot isn’t scheduled to speak to the media until next Tuesday for confirmation on Alisson’s availability for the Merseyside derby.

Ryan Gravenberch

Perhaps more pressing on the agenda for Slot’s next press conference is the status of Gravenberch, who didn’t play a minute of the Netherlands’ two-legged Nations League quarter-final against Spain.

Perhaps that was a blessing in disguise for his club, given the key midfielder looked a little leggy in the Reds’ recent defeats to PSG and Newcastle United, while the clash with Spain ended up going all the way to extra time in the second leg.

Gravenberch did fly out to join up with Ronald Koeman’s squad, but he withdrew after a couple of days.

“The midfielder is still suffering from an injury sustained over the weekend [the Carabao Cup final] that prevents him from playing in the matches against Spain,” announced the Netherlands.

The Dutch FA also cited an unspecified “fitness issue” – we’ll have to wait and see what that means for Gravenberch’s availability for the Merseyside derby. A fortnight’s rest might’ve been all that was needed.

Riccardo Calafiori

Knee injuries have been something of a recurring theme in the Italian defender’s career to date – so the awkward way in which he landed awkwardly in the Azzurri’s Nations League clash with Germany.

We wait confirmation from Mikel Arteta ahead of the Gunners’ return to action against Fulham next Tuesday, but reports out of Italy suggest Calafiori could be set to miss a few weeks.

“We don’t know about Calafiori, his knee feels strange but he can’t answer the question of what he feels,” said Italy boss Luciano Spalletti.

It would be another frustrating setback in what’s been a stop-start debut Arsenal season for Calafiori, but Arsenal can at least call upon Hale End graduate Myles Lewis-Skelly – who shone on his England bow and has thankfully returned to his club unscathed.

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