Barca lose captain Puyol with dislocated elbow

Barca lose captain Puyol with dislocated elbow

 MADRID, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona captain suffered another blow of bad luck on the day he returned to action following a knee injury.

Puyol returned to the Barcelona side for the 2-0 win in the Champions League away to Benfica after less than a month on the sidelines when he had been expected to be out of action for around six weeks.

However, his return to action lasted just 75 minutes before a bad fall as he jumped for a header saw him fall badly and dislocate his elbow.

TV images showed Puyol's arm twisted the wring¹ way and the Barca captain was clearly in agony as he was carried off the pitch, to a generous round of applause from the Benfica fans. The club confirmed that Puyol' s elbow had been reset² and that the 34-year-old has been given pain-killers and his arm immobilized to allow him to return with his team-mates to Barcelona.

The club also confirmed that he will need further tests to see whether or not he has suffered ligament damage to his arm. If this is the case then Puyol will need surgery on the elbow, if not he will hopefully be able to return to action before the end of the year.

The injury is a huge blow to Barcelona ahead of this Sunday's league match at home to Real Madrid in which Barca could extend their lead over their bitter rivals to 11 points.

Gerard Pique³ is still out with a muscle injury and is unlikely to play on Sunday, meaning Barca coach Tito Vilanova will have to rely on the pairing of Javier Mascherano and Alex Song, neither of whom are specialist central defenders⁵, against a fearsome Madrid attack containing, Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel De Maria and Karim Benzema.

Vilanova insisted after Tuesday's game that he had alternatives to play in defense⁶, but the club will be hoping Puyol is back in action as soon as possible.

The defender⁴ was optimistic of that, posting a photo on his 'twitter' page on Wednesday morning with the message, "The sun will soon shine again and I will get back to my best quickly."

The good news for Barca on Tuesday was that midfielder Andres Iniesta made a substitute appearance after recovering from his thigh⁷ injury and should be fit for the weekend.

1 wring   

n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭

参考例句：

• My socks were so wet that I had to wring them.我的袜子很湿，我不得不拧干它们。
• I'll wring your neck if you don't behave!你要是不规矩，我就拧断你的脖子。

2 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。

3 pique   

v.伤害…的自尊心，使生气 n.不满，生气

参考例句：

• She went off in a fit of pique.她一赌气就走了。
• Tom finished the sentence with an air of pique.汤姆有些生气地说完这句话。

4 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

5 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 thigh   

n.大腿；股骨

参考例句：

• He is suffering from a strained thigh muscle.他的大腿肌肉拉伤了，疼得很。
• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。