Happy birthday, Chadi!: Riad on overcoming injury setbacks

Riad will celebrate his birthday while on international duty as he competes at his first World Cup – a huge achievement.

It is even more impressive given how much football Riad had missed through injury in the last two years. Speaking earlier this season, Riad talked about overcoming those battles and why he is loving his time in South London.

This interview was initially published in the Crystal Palace v Everton matchday programme - you can buy previous issues of the matchday programme by clicking HERE.

When you’re at the business end – or “crunch time” as Oliver Glasner likes to call it – of the season and you’re fighting on multiple fronts, time on the training ground for a professional footballer is short.

Games dominate the schedule. In 2026, recovery is as important for the modern elite footballer, as drills on the training ground. ‘Load’ has to be carefully managed to maximise performance.

So, it’s heartwarming then to see that, when we track down Chadi Riad at the Crystal Palace Training Ground, we find the Moroccan defender juggling a football to himself on an empty pitch. In the name of today’s matchday programme, your correspondent makes a daring sprint across the pitch as if he were making a last-ditch slide tackle, almost feeling guilty about interrupting Riad’s kickabout.

After all, you can’t begrudge the 22-year-old making the most of having a ball at his feet again. For the first 18 months of his Palace career, Riad suffered horrendous luck with injuries.

The sort of luck that would have seriously affected many a fellow professional.

After making his home debut against West Ham at the start of the 2024/25 season, a knee injury picked up in a Carabao Cup win over Norwich kept him out until December.

Riad returned to feature in the first game of the historic FA Cup run, a 1-0 win against Stockport.

But just weeks later he suffered a cruciate ligament injury during training. That meant another year on the shelf. It has taken real mental resilience for the defender to overcome those challenges.

It’s the sort of 18-month period you never anticipate as a young professional just trying to make it in the game. “Of course, mentally it was very, very difficult,” Riad says, reflecting on the hardest part of his career so far.

“The part I didn’t realise would be so hard is just coming back to the training ground when you can’t play.

“It’s tough because you see your teammates training outside. But all the time you are just by yourself in the gym.

“But these are the things you must do when you’re injured. You have to do them to give yourself the chance to get back.

“Through it all I had my family and my friends. These are the ones who remembered me. They made sure I had the motivation to get back.

“When you get injured, no-one is thinking about you, this is normal. This is the tough part of the football world.

“My family and my friends really got me through it. I just want to say thank you to them, because they’re a really important part of me and my story.

“I had a tough time, but my teammates and staff also supported me very well. That makes a difference.”

It’s a story that has already seen Riad go from the prestigious Barcelona Academy – ‘La Masia’ – to playing in La Liga on a regular basis with Real Betis on loan, to the international stage.

It’s easily forgotten he is still only 22. The most recent chapter saw him return to the first-team fold with Palace.

Against Chelsea at the end of January, Riad made his first senior appearance in over a year, coming off the bench for the final quarter of the game. He managed to play his part in getting Palace on the scoresheet; his follow-up in a goalmouth scramble teeing up a Chris Richards goal from close range.

A week later and he was making a first start of the season. Riad was thrown in the deep-end, away to Nottingham Forest, with the hosts fighting against relegation.

He came through 60 minutes of action unscathed, giving a flawless performance in the process.

“It was amazing,” he said. “To come off the pitch after so long away and think I’d got past that tough time.

“I just felt like a football player again. I was really happy. The next day of course I felt tired, but this is completely normal after one year without playing.

“My family were so happy for me, that will be my main memory for me after the Forest game.”

Since that day Riad has continued to play his part in Palace’s relentless season. He came on for Maxence Lacroix away to Fiorentina at a difficult moment in the away leg of the Conference League quarter-final.

The Italians had just pulled one goal back and were putting the Palace backline under pressure, with still well over half of the game to play.

Riad didn’t put a foot wrong in the second-half. Fiorentina got another goal, but the Eagles progressed on aggregate.

He has all the attributes to be a top-class defender, strong, good in the air, but also positionally sharp and excellent on the ball. But his defensive idol of choice is a surprising one, or at least it is for an ex-Barcelona player.

“You’re not going to expect it,” said Riad. “But I always really liked Raphaël Varane. I had to like him secretly.

“He was so good with the ball. Good in the aerial duels. He never seemed to lose a header. He’s someone I admired a lot when I was coming through as a defender.”

Riad is certainly a player who is always looking to perfect his craft. England is always considered a difficult place for young defenders to learn their trade, but Riad has enjoyed the challenge.

“It’s a position you always have to keep learning about,” he added. “The hardest part of defending… and it looks easy from the outside, is just to be in the right place. Because if you’re in the right place at the right moment, it’s going to look easy.

“You’re going to find taking the ball so much easier. But actually getting your position right in the first place, that’s not easy.

"The best just make it look easy. But I think defending is tougher mentally than other positions. You’re always having to deal with different attackers in different situations.

“I think you have to be really intelligent to be in the right place at the right time. That’s the hardest thing.”

Riad has already faced his share of different opponents both in England and Europe during his time at Palace.

But the toughest attacker he has faced so far, according to the man himself, comes from his time in La Liga.

“I played against Atlético Madrid back when I was at Betis,” he recalls. “And I played against [Álvaro] Morata.

“That was really tough. It was a difficult game for me because he was so good at the runs in-behind.

“He was good at protecting the ball, good with the ball at his feet. And physically he’s a big guy, but I think that experience really helped me.”

During his time at Palace, Riad has mainly featured in a back three. Considering he came through at Barcelona, where 4-3-3 reigns supreme, this might have been a challenge.

But instead he looks comfortable and has enjoyed playing alongside his fellow centre-backs.

“To play with them is amazing,” he adds. “They’re really good defenders and they’re still young, all in their twenties.

“But I enjoy it because when I play with them, they help you a lot. “Apart from being good footballers – they are really good teammates as well, which is important.”

Having won four caps for the Morocco national team, Riad featured in the most recent international window.

A place in the World Cup finals squad is the next natural step. His national side, who reached the semi-finals last time in Qatar, have the small matter of an opening game against five-time champions Brazil.

“I’m really excited to play the World Cup,” Riad smiles. “One of the parts of being a footballer I love the most is playing for my country.

“I’ve been going to the national team since I was 14, so to play in America would mean everything.”

But before the prospect of facing the Seleção in front of 82,500 people in New Jersey, there is the chance to finish the season on a high with Palace.

At the time of writing, silverware in the UEFA Conference League is still very much a possibility. But regardless of whether he picks up another winners’ medal or not, Riad is enjoying his time in South London.

“To come here, to be honest, it’s always felt like home,” he says. "From day one I really enjoyed it, even when the injuries made it tough.

"I didn’t feel like I needed too long to adjust after coming here. Obviously there is the language difference at first, but I’m getting better and feeling good.

“The teammates, the staff… everyone at the club has helped me every day. I feel at home here."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHADI!