Barcelona lose Thiago to knee injury
Sunday, September 30, 2012
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After featuring in three of his side's six Liga wins so far this season, FC Barcelona's Thiago Alcántara is facing into an eight-week spell on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.
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FC Barcelona have suffered a blow ahead of Tuesday's UEFA Champions League trip to SL Benfica with the news that midfielder Thiago Alcántara will miss most of the Blaugrana's Group G campaign after tearing the internal collateral ligament in his right knee.
The former UEFA European Under-21 Championship winner with Spain sustained the injury not long after coming on as a substitute in his team's 3-2 Liga win away to Sevilla FC on Saturday. After undergoing subsequent tests at his club, he is now expected to be sidelined for two months, meaning he will miss the home and away fixtures against Celtic FC and the visit to FC Spartak Moskva in late November in addition to Tuesday's voyage to Lisbon.
On a brighter note for coach Tito Vilanova, captain Carles Puyol (knee), Andrés Iniesta (adductor) and Adriano (pelvis) have all recovered from their injuries and will form part of the traveling party for the game at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica.
