Carles Puyol injury: Barcelona captain suffers reported dislocated elbow

The Barca captain landed awkwardly in the 75th minute and was carted off the pitch holding his arm against his body and clearly in pain. Reports came out last night about the elbow, but the injury was made official today on the club’s website:

Puyol was released from the hospital last night and traveled home with the team. He did provide an update on Twitter as well, saying he was already back in Barcelona and thanking everyone who looked after him in Portugal. He thanked fans for the messages as well.

Fortunately, reports are coming out of Spain that the Barca defender escaped with a dislocated elbow. Still bad, but depending on the extent of the damage, he could be back early next year, or sooner. A report in Sport says that if Puyol has avoided ligament damage in the elbow, he could be back in November. If there is ligament damage however, he’s likely facing surgery and will be out until late December/early January.

According to Sport, doctors in Portugal examined Puyol after the match and released him to travel back to Barcelona with team after reducing the dislocation under anesthesia and immobilizing the injured arm. Puyol will face further test and exams upon return home to figure out the extent of the damage.

In the 77th minute, Puyol took a bad fall and landed awkwardly on his arm. It was grotesque to see and immediately everyone in the stadium knew it was a serious injury. Puyol stayed down a few minutes before being helped on a cart, holding his arm close to his body with his opposite hand.

Related: Coverage of all of Tuesday’s Champions League action.