Carles Puyol sidelined for six weeks

Barca captain Carles Puyol has been sidelined for six weeks due to a knee operation.

The news comes as a shock to fans as Puyol, who is Barcelona’s captain, will miss the final of La Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao and also the Euro 2012 campaign with current holders Spain.

Puyol will have what is known as a knee arthroscopy. During surgery, a minute camera is inserted into the knee through small incisions enabling damaged tissue to be repaired or even removed.

The 34 year old Barca captain, who played in the Catalan giants last game against Espanyol in the local derby, finished the match with some problems in his right knee, sources have said.

This has come as a bit of a blow to both Puyol and the fans as the Barca captain is just one game short of collecting his 100th cap for his country. He has also been a rock and a force in Spain’s back line and he will no doubt be sorely missed during Spain’s campaign in the Euro 2012 tournament.

Puyol will be operated on this Saturday and it will give the doctors an insight as to how extent the defender’s knee problem really is.

Speaking of the injury, the Barca captain had this to say about his possibilities of playing in La Copa del Rey or the Euro 2012:

“We have to wait for the outcome of the surgery, but I think it’s impossible as there just isn’t enough time for me to recover”. “I really wanted to go and I hate missing out on these two competitions like the UEFA EURO 2012 and the final of la Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao. I don’t know if this would have been my last European Championship, but I want to retire on the playing field and not in the operating room. I would love to play my 100th game for Spain.”

Spain go head to head with italy in their defense of the title in Gdansk on June 10th in the first game as part of Group C. Then they will face Croatia and the Republic of Ireland.