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Villa injury worries Spain, Barcelona

Comment: 0 December 16th, 2011 by: admin

ONE bad news Vicente del Bosque and Pep Guardiola don’t want coming their way is when any of their players get injured.

Especially when it is someone like David Villa.

The star striker broke his left leg during Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Al-Sadd in the Club World Cup semifinals on Thursday and is likely to be sidelined for up to five months.

Villa is an integral part of Spain’s and Barcelona’s attacking unit and his absence could affect the squads’ chances in the Euro 2012 and La Liga, respectively.

As a result, he could end up watching the European Championships from home. He is unlikely to play again before the last few games of the season. Besides, his absence could weaken Spain’s chances of defending their European crown starting in June. In the La Liga, Barca would be playing sans a key forward in their heated title rivalry against Real Madrid.

The 30-year-old Villa, whose goals four years ago helped Spain to claim the continent’s major silverware, broke the tibia in his left leg after challenging for the ball. He was stretchered out of the pitch as Barca officials announced he would be flown back to Barcelona for surgery.

Spain’s all-time leading scorer was battling it out with two Al-Sadd defenders in the 37^th minute when he fell awkwardly to the ground and then called for help as he winced in pain.

Villa netted five goals during Spain’s their 2010 World Cup campaign and Del Bosque still considers him an essential part of the Spanish national team.

Although he scored 23 goals for Barca last season, Villa’s playing time at the Catalan outfit has been reduced this season with the arrival of Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez. Despite that, he has still connected nine goals in all competitions.

‘The news was very bad,’ del Bosque told the Spanish news agency Europa Press. ‘It’s a great misfortune, for him above all since he is the injured one, and looking ahead to Euro 2012, of course this is very bad news.’

Del Bosque added: ‘There are six months to go. Let’s see if he can get well. Recovering always has its set processes, but there are some players that get healthy sooner than others.’

In case Villa does not recover on time, Valencia star Roberto Soldado will fill in his shoes. Del Bosque would have other options in the out-of-form Chelsea striker Fernando Torres, Athletic Bilbao’s Fernando Llorente and Sevilla’s Alvaro Negredo.

For his part, Guardiola said missing Villa is going to be a blow. ‘I understand it is going to be a long time. We all love David. His personality is great, we all worry about him.’

With the win, Barca advanced to meet South American champions Santos in the CWC final and got the chance to nail their 13^th title under Guardiola’s stewardship.

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