Coach Frank Schmidt had already feared it: Bundesliga club 1. FC Heidenheim has to do without left-back Leart Pacarada for months.
The newcomer from 1. FC Köln contracted a cruciate ligament rupture in the left knee after five minutes in his debut in the Heidenheim jersey against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday (0: 2). This was confirmed by an MRI examination, the club said on Monday.
The violation of the 30-year-old “meets us all hard-primarily he personally”, Schmidt is quoted in the communication of the Heidenheimers: “In the next few months, as a team we will have to stand even closer together, take responsibility and compensate for the failure of Learst Pacarada.”
Schmidt had already guessed the severity of the injury when he was replaced by his protégé. “Paca said that it cracked several times,” the coach had reported in the Sky interview after the home bankruptcy against BVB. Pacarada had twisted his knee after he had been unhappily stuck in the lawn with his left foot without external influence.