Barcelona enjoyed a dramatic win over Valencia in which their star striker Lionel Messi netted a brace en route to 3-2 comeback win. However, it wasn’t all smiles, as the match saw Andres Iniesta suffer a serious injury.
The Blaugrana playmaker suffered a serious knee ligament injury and had to be stretchered out of the pitch at La Mestalla. Although a return date is unknown, everyone expects a lengthy spell on the sidelines, and rightly so.
The World Cup winner will miss up to eight weeks of play, meaning he will have to sit out a total of 14 games for both club and country. Sadly, some of those fixtures are big ones.
Of the 14, 12 are with the Catalan giants. One of those fixtures will be a two-legged Copa del Rey clash with Hercules, whilst the Furia Roja ace will also miss the remaining three Champions League group stage ties.
This means the Spaniard won’t be available for the crucial trip to the Etihad when they face Manchester City. Luckily, with nine points under their belt, progression is all but secure.
In La Liga, Iniesta will miss encounters with two of the league’s top four sides, as the 32-year-old will likely be unavailable for El Clasico (home) vs. Real Madrid on December 4, and Sevilla (away) on November 6.
Even the national side bear the burden of Iniesta’s injury, as he won’t feature for the 2010 World Cup winners in their World Cup qualifier vs. Macedonia and a friendly clash with England.
The player himself was counting his blessings despite the serious injury, thanking fans for their support via Twitter. He wrote: "It's not an easy moment, it'll be a few weeks but it could have been a lot worse. I want to thank you for all the messages of support! Hugs!”
No es un momento fácil, serán unas semanas pero podía haber sido mucho peor... Quería agradeceros los mensajes de ánimo! Un abrazo!
— Andrés Iniesta (@andresiniesta8) October 22, 2016
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