The three months of absence announced ped on Monday, and we still do not see Nikola Karabatic return. According to our information, the star of Paris-SG and the Blues, victim of phlebitis in the right leg on February 15, will probably not play again in 2022-2023. Even if you should never rule out a miracle with a competitor of this caliber.
The veteran centre-half, who turned 39 last month, maintains physical fitness by running or bodybuilding, but solo. Training with contacts is strictly forbidden to him because of his treatment with anticoagulants.
According to the results of his next medical examinations, these days he could possibly return to collective training, but a return to competition is very unlikely before next season.
It’s complicated, he hasn’t played handball for three months
Raul Gonzalez, coach of Paris-SG
“It’s complicated, he hasn’t played handball for three months… explained coach Raul Gonzalez on Monday. When you go on vacation for a month and a half at the start of the season, it takes a month of preparation to be more or less well and we only have five weeks left. »
The Final Four of the Champions League as hope?
While the French Championship will end on June 6, a slim hope could remain in the event of qualification for the Final Four of the Champions League, on June 18 and 19 in Cologne. PSG is in a good position to win its ticket, this Wednesday evening at Coubertin in the quarter-final return against Kiel (27-31 first leg win).
Met a fortnight ago in Rouen, during the inauguration ceremony of the Hall of Fame of the Blues, the player with ten international titles had been rather pessimistic about his end of the season. “I’m waiting for the results, but basically, as it was a recurrence, the doctor told me that normally it meant six months off. Maybe it was to please me that I was finally told three months…, he said smiling. But I prepared myself psychologically for it to be six months. »
To make matters worse, he still feels pain in his left foot, the consequences of the injury which had ruined the end of his World Championship in January (2nd place). Nikola Karabatic, who has extended in Paris for an additional year until June 2024, will be all the more cautious as next season promises to be very busy, with a Euro in Germany in winter (January 10-28) and , culminating in the Paris Olympics from July 27 to August 10, 2024.