the lengths to which he struggled for two years
with a kidney problem – saying he "p***ed blood"
in every game and training session.
The 22-year-old midfielder is set to line up when
Atletico bid to reach a third Champions League
semi-final in four seasons on Tuesday, when they
defend a 1-0 lead at Leicester City.
Saul memorably scored a remarkable solo goal
against Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of last
season's competition and has established himself
as an integral member of Diego Simeone's side,
with his coach last month claiming he has the
ability to be counted among the best midfielders in
the world.
However, his progress has come amid severe
health struggles, which began after he took an
accidental kick to the stomach from Bayer
Leverkusen defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos during
a 2015 Champions League match.
He was hospitalised with kidney trauma and
internal bleeding and was ruled out of action for
almost six weeks, but revealed in an interview with
Antena 3 that he subsequently played with a
catheter to empty his bladder.
"For two years I was playing with a catheter
inside," said Saul, who scored in Atleti's last-16
victory over Leverkusen this time around.
Gran victoria
Buen resultado
GRANDE afición @Atleti pic.twitter.com/
dQcquo7UzO
— Saúl Ñiguez Esclapez (@saulniguez)
April 12, 2017
"In every training session and every game I p***ed
blood. It was pretty bad, something difficult that
people do not know or understand.
"I was risking my health to put on the club colours,
to chase the dream.
"I remember everything about the injury - how I
felt, how many times I vomited, being on the
stretcher.
"Scoring the goal back there was a huge liberation
and emotion for me. I felt like a weight had been
lifted off me."
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