Rodrigo Bentancur has been given the all-clear to return to playing after he serves a 12-day concussion protocol. The Tottenham midfielder sparked concern when he collapsed to the turf in his club’s 1-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg win over Liverpool on Wednesday night.
Bentancur was taken away on a stretcher after eight minutes of treatment and was assessed in hospital. The neurological tests have revealed nothing more serious than concussion.
The Uruguay international, who sustained a concussion in Spurs’ opening game of the season at Leicester after a clash of heads, did not appear to collide with another Liverpool player as he tried to reach the ball at a seventh- minute corner. The feeling at Spurs is that he got his arm caught in an unusual position, had nothing to cushion his fall and banged his head down hard against the ground, knocking himself out.
Because it is Bentancur’s second concussion of the season, the rules demand that he does not play games for at least 12 days. His projected return date is against Hoffenheim in the Europa League on 23 January, meaning he will miss the next three matches – against Tamworth in the FA Cup and Arsenal and Everton in the Premier League. After the Leicester game at the start of the season, Bentancur sat out the following fixture against Everton.
The Spurs manager, Ange Postecoglou, was spiky when he addressed the swirl of speculation around Bentancur’s condition. “I don’t understand,” he said. “We’re talking about people’s health and I’m sure you all protect your own medical records closely and wouldn’t want public speculation about it. He was concussed. He’s had every check. Everything was fine. There’s nothing apart from the concussion and we will follow the concussion protocols.
“I find it really distasteful. We can literally say anything these days and people will take no offence or are not affronted by the fact people have no basis for anything. I’m not part of the medical profession. I rely on the information I get. He’s good. He was concussed. Everything else checks out fine and he will go through the protocols. Aside from that we will make sure he is absolutely fine before he starts again.”
