It never rains, but it pours.
If Pierre Sage thought the step up to European football after taking over the Selhurst Park hotseat was going to be a smooth ride, the harsh reality of Premier League management has hit hard before August is even out.
According to Bobby Manzi of the Daily Mail, Crystal Palace defender Chadi Riad is expected to miss most of the season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
The setback completely rules the defender out of tonight’s high-profile Premier League encounter against Manchester City at Selhurst Park. The news arrives as a crushing blow to Pierre Sage’s squad, who are looking to push forward following their European success last term without suffering a transition hangover.
Opening Day Nightmare at Goodison Park
Palace stumbled in their Premier League opener against Everton, dropping a 2-0 decision on Merseyside. While the performance contained enough created chances to avoid total despondency, the true damage occurred in the 70th minute.Riad pulled his shirt over his head in tears before stretchering off the pitch, immediately raising fears of a severe knee issue.
Subsequent scans confirmed the worst-case evaluation: another ACL rupture that will likely keep the 23-year-old Morocco international out of action for up to a year.
A Devastating History of Knee Injuries
This latest setback represents an extraordinarily cruel chapter in Riad’s tenure at Selhurst Park since arriving in the summer of 2024.
- August–December 2024: Missed nearly four months with a serious knee injury.
- January–December 2025: Ruptured his ACL just weeks after returning, spending 326 days on the sidelines.
- August 2026: Suffered his second career ACL rupture against Everton.
Medical consensus highlights that athletes who undergo an ACL reconstruction face a significantly heightened risk of sustaining the same injury in the opposite leg. Should Riad remain out until the summer of 2027, he will have lost nearly two-and-a-half years of his professional career to recurrent knee traumas.
Sage’s Selection Dilemma for Manchester City
Speaking ahead of Friday night’s clash against Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City, manager Pierre Sage confirmed Riad’s absence alongside forward Ismaïla Sarr, who remains out with a groin issue.
“For the moment we need more advice from a specialist, because it’s always difficult to give a good schedule for this kind of thing,” Sage explained regarding Riad’s prognosis. “That’s why I prefer to wait, and to give you an official position.”
To mitigate the defensive crisis, Palace reacted swiftly in the transfer market by completing a season-long loan move for Chelsea centre-back Axel Disasi. Sage hinted that Disasi could be thrust directly into action tonight at Selhurst Park to stabilize a backline missing one of its most key defensive assets.
Sage was brought in to build on the foundations laid last term and navigate a grueling Thursday-Sunday European schedule. But as tonight’s fixture underlines, his biggest task right now is simply keeping his defensive unit intact.
