The joy of beating an outstanding Barcelona side 4-2 has been tempered by concerns over the number of injured players. Fears emerged as early as Tuesday evening over how long the players who came out of the clash with the Catalans battered and bruised would be sidelined, and by Wednesday morning, one of them had been diagnosed with a serious injury that will keep him out for a lengthy period. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has (probably) seen his season come to an end as early as October.
The Georgian international had to leave the pitch with the help of doctors and physiotherapists during the second half of the Champions League clash, and an MRI scan subsequently revealed the extent of his injury. He has damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. The club confirmed that the ligament has been torn and that the winger will undergo surgery in the coming days.
That will be followed by a lengthy recovery process lasting at least six months, but more realistically eight or nine. This means the former Napoli man has little to no chance of returning to action before the end of the season and helping Luis Enrique’s side defend their titles in Ligue 1 and the Champions League. There is always hope that recovery can be accelerated, but plenty of footballers have rushed back onto the pitch before they were fully ready, only to aggravate their injuries.
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PSG have not put a timeframe on Kvaratskhelia’s absence, but it is clear they will have to make do without him for the foreseeable future.Mighty Barca finally defeated by the European kingsOne alternative on the left wing is Mika Godts, who joined from Ajax over the summer for €45 million, although the young Belgian has made just 201 minutes of appearances for the reigning European champions so far. He is now likely to feature much more regularly.
As for the other players who were forced to leave the Barcelona game earlier than expected, Ousmane Dembele sustained an injury to his left hamstring, while Marquinhos injured his right one. Both the forward and the centre-back will remain under the supervision of the medical team over the coming weeks.