Celta Vigo Relocates Entire Squad to Calf-Massage Clinic, Borja Iglesias to Spend Six Weeks in Plaster Cast from Hip to Toe
In a bid to speed up Borja Iglesias's soleus recovery, Celta Vigo has moved its entire first team into a specialized calf clinic, where the striker will remain encased in plaster for six weeks while his teammates train around him.
Celta Vigo has relocated its entire first-team squad to a specialized calf-massage clinic on the outskirts of Vigo after Borja Iglesias suffered a soleus muscle tear, with the striker set to spend the next six weeks encased in a full-leg plaster cast from hip to toe. The club confirmed the move as a «preventive measure» to ensure no other player suffers a similar injury.
The clinic, a converted seafood warehouse, now houses twenty-three players, four physiotherapists, and a rotating team of plaster technicians. Training sessions consist of the squad performing light stretches while Iglesias watches from a reinforced gurney, his cast signed by every member of the board. Coach Claudio Giráldez has adjusted tactics to a 4-4-2 formation that accounts for the gurney's turning radius.
«We believe that if one player must be immobile, the entire team should share in that immobility,» said a club spokesperson. «It builds character and prevents further soleus incidents.» The club has also banned running, jumping, and sudden stops for the next six weeks, with violators fined a week's wages and forced to massage Iglesias's cast with a damp sponge.
Iago Aspas and Ferran Jutgla, the only remaining forwards, now train in a separate room where they practice standing perfectly still. The club's next three Liga matches will be played at walking pace, with the referee instructed to blow the whistle for any sprint. Season-ticket holders have been issued complimentary calf massages at halftime.
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