Eight weeks out for injured Puyol

BARCELONA (AFP) –

Puyol had to be stretchered off after falling to the ground in the 76th minute of Tuesday's match in Portugal

Barcelona’s captain Carles Puyol is stretched out during their UEFA Champions League match against Benfica on October 2, in Lisbon. Barcelona captain Carles Puyol will be sidelined for eight weeks after dislocating his elbow in a heavy fall during the side’s 0-2 Champions League victory over Benfica, his club said Wednesday.

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol will be sidelined for eight weeks after dislocating his elbow in a heavy fall during the side’s 0-2 Champions League victory over Benfica, his club said Wednesday.

The 34-year-old defender “will undergo conservative treatment and is expected to be out for about eight weeks” after tests confirmed he had a dislocated left elbow, Barcelona said in a statement.

Having just returned after two weeks recovering from a knee injury to lead the team on Tuesday, Puyol crashed to the ground as he fought for the ball from a corner in the 76th minute of Tuesday’s match in Portugal.

The collision left him on the ground with his arm at an unnatural angle until he was stretchered off to cheers.

The dislocation was treated under anaesthetic in Portugal before he flew back with the rest of his team and spent the night in Barcelona, the club said. He was discharged on Wednesday.

“I want to thank everyone who looked after me in Portugal. I’ll soon be back to my best again,” the Barca veteran said on his Twitter account.

Puyol missed taking part in Spain’s Euro 2012 victory for treatment to his right knee and later fractured his cheekbone at the start of this league season.

Barca coach Tito Vilanova said of Tuesday’s accident: “It was a nasty injury and he has already had one this season so this isn’t very normal.”