Thank goodness for that
Switzerland are sweating over the fitness of Granit Xhaka for their upcoming quarter final against England on Saturday.
Xhaka and the Swiss have been one of the highlights of Euro 2024 so far and booked their place in the last eight with a convincing 2-0 victory to dump the holders Italy out.
The Bayer Leverkusen star didn’t get on the scoresheet but lit the Olympiastadion up with his display – leading to people calling him “the best midfielder in the world”.
Given their performances and England’s look over the course of the tournament, it’s actually Switzerland who are the more fancied of the two.
What is the extent of Xhaka’s injury?
According to various outlets Xhaka has been struggling with a muscle injury and didn’t train on Tuesday and felt it in the final stages of the win against Italy.
Speaking to the press he said: “We practised penalty shootouts before the Italy game.
“On my first attempt I felt something in my left adductor. That’s why I skipped training on Thursday. On Friday in the final training session everything was fine again.
“But in the game I felt it again after 15 minutes. Luckily we have very good doctors who gave me something for it. I was able to play the whole game afterwards, which was important for me.
“We’ll do an MRI on Monday and see what exactly it is. But I have seven days now to get everything treated.”
Xhaka sends warning to England
As England limped through to the quarter finals thanks to late goals from Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, Switzerland breezed past Italy and Xhaka has warned the Three Lions that they face an even tougher test.
He added: I’m not going to say we’re going to win the tournament, but we’re going to do everything we can to get there. I feel like we’re not done yet. We’re hungrier than ever.”
