Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez was rushed to hospital for emergency stitches after suffering a severe lip injury during his side's Champions League elimination against Atletico Madrid.
Fermin sustained the facial blow following a collision with goalkeeper Juan Musso, an incident that has sparked significant controversy despite the goalkeeper's explanation.
Emergency hospital visit for Lopez
According to AS, Lopez was sent directly to hospital upon returning to Catalonia to have his lip sewn again, as the initial intervention in the dressing room was insufficient. The 22-year-old had an eventful 68 minutes on the pitch, covering eight kilometres and missing one big chance before being substituted for Marcus Rashford. Despite Barcelona winning 2-1 on the night, they were eliminated 3-2 on aggregate. Lopez now requires rest to avoid infection, capping off a bruising week where he also suffered a cut forehead.
Musso clarifies his mixed zone comments
The incident occurred when Lopez attempted a header and collided with Juan Musso's boot. The Atletico Madrid goalkeeper faced heavy criticism but strongly defended his actions. Speaking in the mixed zone, Musso stated: "How is it going to be a penalty? No way. It hurt me for him because he crashed into my foot. I do the natural movement to try to cover the goal. He, when bending down to go to head it, takes my foot. I don't understand how they can think it was intentional to hit a colleague in the mouth like that."
Goalkeeper issues apology as Laporta fumes
After facing backlash for his choice of words, Musso posted an Instagram story to clarify the Argentine phrase he used. He wrote: "Expression widely used in Argentina to refer to when one feels it and empathises with the pain of the other. In no way can it be interpreted as my foot actually hurting. As some wanted to interpret it."
He added: "I apologised to Fermin both on and off the pitch because in my natural movement to cover the goal we collided and he was hurt."
Meanwhile, Barcelona president Joan Laporta was furious, stating to the media: "It is intolerable."
