Palermo out for the season

Villarreal CF striker Martín Palermo will miss the rest of the season after suffering a double fracture of the tibia in a Copa del Rey tie at Levante Unión Deportiva S.A.D.

Barrier collapsed
After scoring the opening goal in extra time following a goalless 90 minutes, Palermo rushed towards the small band of Villarreal supporters when a protective barrier collapsed on to his lower leg. He underwent surgery on Thursday night and the club revealed on Friday that his season is over, virtually eliminating any hope he may have had of forcing his way into the Argentina squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals.

Official announcement
Villarreal spokesman Manuel said: "The operation was a success but Martín Palermo will be out for the rest of the season. We are obviously disappointed for the player and for the club."

Poor conditions
Villarreal president Fernando Roig reacted angrily to the news that Palermo, who joined the Spanish club from Club Atlético Boca Juniors in January, will miss the remainder of the campaign. "How can this sort of thing be allowed to happen in a football ground," he said. "We now have a seriously injured player because the conditions inside the stadium were not good enough."

'A disaster'
Villarreal coach Victor Muñoz described the freak accident as "a disaster". Levante hit back through Ricardo Lima in the 118th minute but there was to be no upset as Villarreal triumphed 5-4 in the shoot-out.

Shock result
Spanish second division Ciudad de Murcia provided the biggest shock of the evening by knocking out first division Málaga CF. Again the game went to penalties after Málaga's Miguel Roteta had cancelled out Bomba's opener at the start of the second half of normal time. In Thursday's other game, Nastic CF won 2-1 at UE Lleida.