Konstantinos Karetsas Injury Update: Champions League Scare for Dortmund
Konstantinos Karetsas’ Champions League night ended in alarming fashion, with the Borussia Dortmund teenager taken off on a stretcher during the first half against Villarreal.
The 18-year-old had just released a pass when he immediately raised his arm toward the bench and went down, clearly in distress. Medical staff rushed on and treated him for several minutes, concentrating on his upper body as the stadium fell quiet. He was eventually stretchered from the pitch and taken straight down the tunnel to the locker room.
Dortmund made the change in the 27th minute, sending on Ethan Nwaneri in his place.
The club later moved to clarify the situation, announcing that the substitution was “due to circulation problems” and confirming that Karetsas had been taken to hospital for further examinations. The statement added that he “is doing as well as can be expected given the circumstances.”
The scare came a day after Karetsas had already trained differently from the bulk of the squad. He did not take part in full team training on the eve of the match, instead working in the gym. Manager Niko Kovač had downplayed that decision in his pre-match news conference, describing it as a normal adjustment, with one or two players occasionally completing an indoor session rather than joining the main group.
Karetsas only arrived at Dortmund this summer from Genk, part of a double move that also brought in fellow Greek talent Giannis Konstantelias. That parallel story has already taken a cruel turn: Konstantelias suffered an ACL tear in late August, forcing Dortmund to react in the market and secure Nwaneri on loan from Arsenal to bolster their attacking options.
On the night, Dortmund still found a way to win. Serhou Guirassy struck twice in the second half to drag the Bundesliga side over the line in a 3-2 victory against the La Liga club.
The points are in the bag. The bigger question now is how quickly one of Dortmund’s brightest prospects can safely return to the pitch.
