Barcelona's Vidal to miss rest of season

AFP , Sunday 12 Feb 2017

Aleix Vidal
Barcelona's Aleix Vidal (Reuters)

Barcelona right-back Aleix Vidal will take no further part in the Spanish champions quest for a treble this season after suffering a dislocated right ankle that will keep him out for five months.

Vidal was injured with just three minutes to go of Barca's 6-0 rout at Alaves on Saturday when he came off worst in a challenge with on-loan Atletico Madrid defender Lucas Hernandez.

"The player has been transferred to a hospital in Vitoria and a dislocation to the right ankle that required reconstructive surgery has been confirmed," Barca said in a statement.

"The approximate downtime will be about five months."

Vidal had only just recently fought his way back into Barca boss Luis Enrique's plans after being cast aside for large parts of the opening half of the campaign.

"I am upset by Aleix's injury, the way it came about and what it means for him," said Enrique.

"I hope it doesn’t turn out to be as bad as it looks," added Barca midfielder Ivan Rakitic.

"I was quite shocked. Hopefully he'll be back soon as he is a great guy and he was playing excellently."

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