[Chelsea](https://chelseanews.com/) did not have a good performance at all on Wednesday night in the Champions League, dropping points to Qarabag with a 2-2 draw that highlighted weaknesses on both sides of the ball.
But to make matters worse, Chelsea lost another key contributor in the midfield to an injury. Dario Essugo, one of the main backups behind Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, is already out until potentially 2026 with continued injury woes.
Now, Romeo Lavia, who is almost never available due to recurring injuries, picked up another serious issue in the draw. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca confirmed that the Belgian midfielder is expected to miss quite a while again with his latest ailment:
“Lavia is not able to be fit for a long long time. We will see, I think it’s his quad.”
Quadriceps injuries are no joke. Lavia has suffered more than enough in his career, and it just seems like he can’t shake off the bad luck, leaving Chelsea fans wondering if they can ever rely on the top midfield talent.
Lavia missed 34 games last season and 43 games the previous campaign before that with recurring injuries, mostly hamstring and thigh issues. So this is par for the course for a 21-year-old top talent who has one of the worst injury records in football.
Joe Soriano is the editor of _The Trivela Effect_ and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like _The Real Champs_ (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage _NFL Spin Zone_ and _Daily DDT,_ covering the NFL and pro wrestling.