La Liga Betting: Schuster embattled by wounded knees

Spanish Football / Alsy / 25 November 2008 / Leave a Comment

Real Madrid have clawed their way back into the La Liga title race but the manager remains on a tight-rope. Alister Morgan wonders whether knee injuries to key players will prove decisive in determining his fate.

As knee problems look set to derail Bernd Schuster's career at Real Madrid he must be experiencing a sharp sense of deja vu.

As a 21-year-old playing for Barcelona he picked up a bad knee injury that threatened his blossoming career. He eventually recovered making 170 appearances and scoring 63 goals from midfield before controversially switching to Real Madrid in 1988.

Ten years on Schuster is back at the Bernabeu. In May he secured Madrid's 31st La Liga title with three games to spare and a record 85 points but new knee-troubles this season have brought the German to the brink. Schuster's playing days are far behind him but when key midfielder Wesley Sneijder damaged cruciate ligaments against Arsenal in a pre-season friendly he lost the heartbeat of his midfield.

Three months later Sneijder has returned but his form, like the team as a whole, has been inconsistent. Bitter rivals Barcelona now lead the way at the summit of La Liga but also in the entertainment stakes. While the Spanish press speculated on who might replace Schuster, Madrid clawed their way up the table before Ruud van Nistelrooy's right knee intervened.

A partially torn meniscus has put an end to his season after ten goals in ten appearances and leaves Madrid without one of their most consistent strikers. The Dutchman had recovered from an injury to the same knee in 2000 so Schuster will be praying that he's still in charge when his key striker returns to fitness.

Top specialists now give players a greater chance of success but for some a return to football does not always coincide with a return to form. Alan Shearer is one player who managed to overcome a serious knee-injury and return to his best form but there are plenty of cautionary tales from athletes in various sports.

Current Premiership stars battling serious knee injuries include Martin Petrov, Michael Essien and Owen Hargreaves. Brazilian striker Ronaldo never quite re-captured the awesome flow that made him so devastating at Inter Milan but he should be applauded for recovering from three career-ending knee injuries. Currently, Ronaldo is a free agent after being released by Milan but even though he and van Nistelrooy are both 32 it's unlikely that Real Madrid would release such a valuable asset. Van Nistelrooy will hope to succeed where Marco van Basten failed and Ronaldo continues to struggle.

In the short term Real Madrid will struggle to replace the Dutchman but they have plenty of talent elsewhere on the pitch and need to re-discover their form of last year when Schuster seemed to be birthing a football dynasty to rule European football. Madrid have been humbled at home and away this season but they remain a mere three points behind Barcelona.

The Catalan giants can be backed to win La Liga at [1.56] which reflects their current demolition of all domestic rivals but Schuster will know all too well how quickly dark clouds can gather. Barcelona's price looks fair but Real Madrid appear criminally undervalued at [4.6] to retain their La Liga title. Gonzalo Higuaín has already scored nine goals this season and looks an excellent outside bet for La Liga Top Scorer at [5.1] while Raul still knows where the goal is.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't be tempted by odds of [16.0] for Madrid to win the Champions League. Success in Europe's premier competition is invariably tough and I doubt that Schuster's team has the mental reserve to fight on two fronts. But they do have the talent and experience to turn their domestic season around and regain their title.