Real Madrid Overhauls Medical Department Due to Player Injuries

MADRID, SUNDAY — Injuries are the most feared issue for both players and clubs. From the players' perspective, injuries hinder their performance and threaten their careers. For clubs, injuries result in financial losses due to the depletion of squad depth, which incurs significant expenses. This issue of injuries has also prompted Real Madrid to restructure its Medical Department, which is deemed to be underperforming.

Last season, Real lost several key players such as David Alaba, Dani Carvajal, Antonio Ruediger, and Eder Militao due to injuries. Their injuries were serious enough that they had to be sidelined for a considerable period. The peak occurred in November 2024, when a total of 25 Real players were injured.

Losing many players in a packed competition was a nightmare for Coach Carlo Ancelotti last season. With only a limited number of available players, Ancelotti was forced to think hard to cover the gaps left by injured players.

Limitations in selecting the necessary players ultimately prevented Real from performing optimally. Although there are players who can play in multiple positions, such as midfielder Eduardo Camavinga who can play as a left-back or Aurelien Tchouameni who can occasionally serve as an emergency center-back, this situation still affects the team's balance. "Los Blancos" wobbled towards the end of last season and lost the chance to secure any trophies.

Real Madrid's management decided to overhaul the Medical Department upon realizing that there was something amiss with the numerous player injury cases. Journalists from The Athletic, Guillermo Rai and Mario Cortegana, reported that internal conflicts among the Medical Department staff also contributed to the need for this restructuring.

The number of displaced staff in the Medical Department is expected to continue to increase over the coming weeks. One name that has already been recruited is Manuel Arroyo from Granada. Meanwhile, Doctors Daniel Rosado and Jaime Abascal are anticipated not to remain at Real.

"The new team will be led by Dr. Felipe Segura, who has been with the club since 2021. Segura has been in charge of the department since 2023 after Dr. Niko Mihic was dismissed from his position," wrote Rai and Cortegana in their report on Sunday (3/8/2025).

The role of the Medical Department is integral to professional clubs. Medical staff are responsible for the fitness of the players. The Medical Department staff typically consists of a team doctor, physiotherapists, fitness trainers, rehabilitation coaches, masseurs, and nutritionists.

In addition to curative actions, the Medical Department is also expected to prevent players from sustaining injuries amid the busy competition schedule. The numerous injuries among players at Real last season indicate a serious problem within the Medical Department of Real Madrid, which hindered their ability to work optimally.

Real Madrid is determined to rise from last season's failures. They have recruited Xabi Alonso as the new coach and purchased several players to enhance the squad's depth. As a result, several positions that were previously weakened due to injuries are beginning to receive reinforcements. This is evident in the right-back position, which is now held by Dani Carvajal or Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The competition for a position in the left-back role is also heating up among Ferland Mendy, Fran Garcia, and new player Alvaro Carreras. Meanwhile, the center-back position has gained further depth following the arrival of Dean Huijsen.

Injuries are indeed a constant concern for players and clubs due to their detrimental effects. For players, injuries can hinder their ability to gain more playing time and potentially threaten the continuation of their careers. Meanwhile, clubs strive to optimize their Medical Department to address injuries that deplete the team's depth.

In addition, injuries have also caused clubs to suffer significant financial losses. Referring to research by Laura Nieto Torrejon, teams in La Liga experienced over 1,000 injuries throughout the season, resulting in an estimated total financial loss of 176 million euros (approximately IDR 3.3 trillion).

Laura is a doctor of economics from the Catholic University of Murcia. She researched the list of injured players in La Liga during the 2023-2024 season. The calculation of losses is based on the duration of player absences, the nature of the injuries, and the average salaries at each club.

Further detailed, Real became the team with the largest financial losses due to injuries. The total reached 59.2 million euros (approximately Rp 1.1 trillion). Barca followed in second place with losses of 30.3 million euros (Rp 577 billion). Sevilla occupied the third position with 16.5 million euros (Rp 314 billion).

The busy football calendar filled with consecutive matches, national team duties, pre-season tours, and commercial obligations is the main cause of the high number of player injuries in La Liga. In an interview with Kompas at the end of May 2025, La Liga President Javier Tebas also pointed out that additional competitions outside the national league make players more susceptible to injuries.

"The problem is not us (the operators of La Liga) who created it. The problem is created by those who make all these unnecessary additional competitions. The money from those competitions will go to a few big clubs and players, but it does not enter the entire football ecosystem (in Spain)," he said.

Tebas, on several occasions, has frequently criticized the organization of the Club World Cup, which he believes leaves football players with insufficient time to rest. He seems to realize that injuries cannot be viewed solely as a medical issue, but also have the potential to erode the financial stability of clubs.