Madrid, Sep 7 (IANS) Valencia’s injury problems deepened on Sunday as a 5-0 home defeat to FC Barcelona left Carlos Corberan’s side bottom of La Liga and defender Mouctar Diakhaby sidelined with another injury.
Valencia have taken just one point from their opening four league matches, and the heavy defeat at the Mestalla was compounded by the loss of Diakhaby in the second half.
The central defender was forced off in the 61st minute and replaced by Iker Cordoba. Tests on Monday confirmed that Diakhaby had suffered a groin injury that is expected to keep him out until at least mid-October.
The 29-year-old has started all four of Valencia’s league matches this season and is a key figure in Corberan’s defense when fit.
Diakhaby has endured a difficult run of injuries in recent years, including a knee problem that sidelined him for 11 months and a torn hamstring tendon that kept him out for the second half of last season.
Valencia went into Sunday’s game with just one point from their opening three games, which came from a 0-0 draw at home to Celta Vigo on the opening day.
Since then, Corberan’s side has lost 1-0 at home to Betis and was beaten 3-1 away to Deportivo La Coruña last weekend, adding to the pressure at Mestalla Stadium, which lost patience with club owner Peter Lim a long time ago.
Guido Rodriguez, Jose Copete, Sadiq Umar, Justin de Haas, Diego Lopez and Sergi Canos all missed the key game, while Dimitri Foulquier, Luis Rioja and Kayne van Oevelen are still struggling to recover from their injuries.
The only good news for Corberan was that deadline-day arrival Harvey Elliott was able to start after completing his loan move from Liverpool, although Elliott has struggled with a lack of competitive football over the past months.
–IANS
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