Barcelona star leaves pitch in tears after suffering major knee injury on international duty

Barcelona midfielder Gavi has been revealed to have suffered a serious knee injury after leaving the pitch in tears while playing for Spain. The young midfielder is likely to miss a significant period of football after picking up an injury in the match against Georgia.

Following their 3-1 win over Cyprus last week, Spain returned to action to end the international break at home to Georgia. Gavi started and played the entire 90 minutes against Cyprus and was named in the starting XI for the match against Georgia.

Less than 30 minutes into the game, Gavi had to leave the pitch with discomfort and then returned after he was looked at by the medical personnel. Within minutes, however, the Barcelona midfielder was on his way off the pitch.

Gavi was offside when he attempted to control a long ball out of defence and pulled up, wincing in pain. The youngster looked distraught as he left the pitch in pain and shed tears as he went down the tunnel into the dressing room.

Athletic Bilbao midfielder Oihan Sancet took his place on the pitch for the remainder of the encounter, which Spain won 3-1. Gavi's Barcelona teammate Ferran Torrres dedicated his goal in the match to him, and Aymeric Laporte showed his support via X.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano has revealed that the injury is quite serious and that more tests will be conducted to be sure of his status. Many fans have postulated, and many news outlets have confirmed, that the midfielder has damaged his ACL and should be out for 6-8 months.

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Barcelona join list of international break casualties

Often, players argue about the demerits of playing too many games in a short span, and this was the case for Gavi. The 19-year-old midfielder has clocked over 12,000 minutes in the last two seasons, putting him at risk of injury.

Many teams have lost players to injury during this month's international break, more so than in the previous ones this season. Barcelona must now come to terms with this fact and plan their squad accordingly.

Arch-rivals Real Madrid have also lost players in the ongoing international break, with Eduardo Camavinga and Vinicius Jr. ruled out for weeks. The same goes for West Ham United and Manchester United, who are dealing with injuries to Jarrod Bowen and Andre Onana respectively.

Barcelona manager Xavi will be extremely unhappy to have lost talented midfielder Gavi, given his importance on the squad. The teenager was the Golden Boy and Kopa award winner for 2022, and may now only return to action after the Euros next year.

Xavi will have to cope with his absence as the injury to Gavi further depletes his midfield. The Blaugrana were already wrestling with the absence of Frenkie De Jong and must now play without Gavi as well.