Barça centre-back Pol Valera will be out for between six and eight months. So the Blaugrana team will go to the final four of the Champions League in Cologne (June 8-9) without two of its centre-backs, since Domen Makuc, also injured in his knee last August, has not yet recovered.
Pol Valera tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee at the end of the second leg of the quarterfinals against PSG, last Thursday at the Palau Blaugrana, when his team sealed their place in the final four.
There were five minutes left in the match, the Catalan player received in an attacking play, feinted looking for penetration and his right knee twisted inwards. He fell struck down on the track and put his hand on his knee in great pain. He had to be carried off the track in the arms of his teammates Frade and Mem.
The 25-year-old La Garriga center-back underwent surgery this Tuesday at the Barcelona Hospital by Dr. Jordi Puigdellívol. According to the club’s medical statement, Valera will be out for between six and eight months. So he would not return to activity until the end of 2024, with the next season in the middle.
Valera, who signed for Barça in February 2023 from Fraikin Granollers, has played 24 games in the Plenitude Asobal League this season and 16 in the Champions League.
The injury truncated the progression of the young centre-back, who was trying to gain the trust of Carlos Ortega. The Malaga coach will now have to use youth player Petar Cikusa for more minutes.
