Carles Puyol Undergoes Knee Surgey; Ruled Out For Three Weeks

There were murmurs before Tuesday's match that Carles Puyol would be left out of the starting XI against AC Milan as he was rumoured to be suffering from knee discomfort. Now, three days after starting Barcelona's historic comeback on the bench, Catalan TV station TV3 report that our beloved captain is undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery and as a result, will be sidelined for the next three to four weeks - or even the remainder of the season if AS are to be believed. If correct, that would mean Puyol will miss both legs of Barcelona's UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie with Paris Saint Germain.

The news comes just hours after Puyol was left out of the Spain squad to face Finland and France, with Vicente Del Bosque revealing that he left Puyol out because he has been suffering with "physical problems", which probably explains his sub-par cameo performance against the Italians. While the Blaugrana managed to cope with their leader on Tuesday, there are still doubts surrounding the form of Javier Mascherano - not to mention the focus of Gerard Pique.

Could it be that Puyol's injury finally forces Barcelona to utilise talented young centre-half Marc Bartra who recently received the green light to return to action following a knee injury of his own? Or maybe Puyol's absence will lead to Eric Abidal making his long-awaited return? Whatever the case, we wish Puyol a speedy recovery, and hopefully he will be able to return and lead the Blaugrana to a place in the Champions League final at Wembley!