Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti suffered a "very serious" ankle injury in the 9-0 thrashing of EA Guingamp and could miss next month's UEFA Champions League clash with Manchester United.
Saturday was an otherwise perfect day for the French champions, with Kylian Mbappé and Edinson Cavani both scoring hat-tricks against the relegation-threatened Bretons.
Verratti went over his ankle inside the first 20 minutes, though, with coach Thomas Tuchel immediately signalling for Julian Draxler to replace the Italian, and the prognosis of his injury is not good.
'Very sad'
"I'm very sad about it," the German coach said at his post-match press conference. "We already needed to strengthen in that area but his injury changes everything. I think it's serious. It's difficult. It's possible that he'll be out for a few weeks."
Verratti has completed more than 90 percent of his passes from the base of PSG's midfield this season. With contract rebel Adrien Rabiot frozen out, Marquinhos, normally a centre-back, should continue to deputise in midfield.
