Liverpool left-back Fabio Aurelio has been sidelined for up to a month as a result of the hamstring injury sustained in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Manchester United.

Liverpool head of sports medicine and sports science Dr Peter Brukner said via the club’s official website that the Brazilian could be out for up to four weeks.

“He’s got a significant hamstring injury,” Brukner said. “Unfortunately his body lets him down. He always play well when he’s fit. We’ve been managing him carefully because he’s not been playing twice in a week, but this just came out of the blue.

“He had a minor adductor strain a few weeks before that. We rehabilitated him and he trained all week with no problems at all.

“He’ll be out for a month so that’s a blow. It’s a partial tear. It’s what we call a secondary degree hamstring. It’s similar to Martin Kelly’s and these are three or four week injuries.”

In other injury news, Brukner revealed Denmark defender Daniel Agger is unlikely to be fit for Thursday’s Europa League clash with Portuguese outfit Braga.

“Daniel had a nasty kick on a joint to the side of his knee. It’s an unusual spot to get an injury. They take time and he’s a bit of a slow healer. He’s still not 100% so we’ll have to see if he’s fit for the game this week. But it’s more likely to be the following week.”

There was also an update on young English midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, with Brukner saying the Anfield club are satisfied the 19-year-old’s recovery from a knee injury is on track.

“We are also happy with Jonjo’s progress. He’s working hard to strengthen the tendon that’s been damaged.”

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

Robin van Persie has labelled referee Massimo Busacca “a joke” after his red card in Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat to Barcelona.

Van Persie was shown a second yellow card in the 56th minute of the game for kicking the ball away. The Gunners had held an advantage at the Camp Nou at the time of the dismissal after Sergio Busquets’ own goal made it 1-1 on the night.

Barca took full advantage of the extra man as Xavi levelled the scores on aggregate before Lionel Messi converted a penalty when Pedro was brought down by Laurent Koscielny.

Asked if the sending off had a significant impact on the result, Van Persie told Sky Sports: “I believe so. I think it had a big influence. It was a total joke, the sending off, because how can I hear his whistle with 95,000 people jumping up?”

When it was pointed out that there was just one second between the whistle and Van Persie’s shot, the striker replied: “Makes it even worse. This way – one second from his whistle to my shot – makes it even worse.

“If there were four, five, six seconds in between, you can make a check [for offside]. One second, it’s a joke.

“It’s just a joke. He’s been bad all evening. He’s been a joke all evening, whistling against us. I don’t know why he’s here tonight. I think it’s a joke.”

He added: “We feel betrayed a bit. When it was 1-1, it was all to play for, and in my opinion the ref killed the game.”

With Arsenal failing to register a shot on target during the game, Arsene Wenger accepted that Barcelona had been impressive but stressed that the decision may have had a significant influence on the outcome.

“We lost against a good team,” he said. “In the first half we resisted pressure – I think the second would have been very interesting if we had stayed 11 against 11. Unfortunately it was not the case.

“There are regrets when you see how we went out – the way we did, it is very difficult to accept.”

On Van Persie’s second booking, he said: “With the people shouting, if he takes his chance I see no reason to give a second yellow card. To do that, [the referee] must absolutely have never played football.

“I told him what I think about his decision face to face and there is not a lot more to say.”

Pep Guardiola said he could understand the anger over the dismissal but emphasised that his own team’s performance had been decisive.

“Arsenal defended very, very well but they didn’t make more than three passes [in succession],” he said. “It was difficult with ten against 11 and after the situation with the second yellow, I can understand the reaction.

“We created a lot of chances, we played a perfect game. We’re so, so happy about our performance. Over the two legs, we were better than them.”

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

1-0 Messi 45’+3

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1-1 Busquets 53’ (o.g.)

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2-1 Xavi 69’

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3-1 Messi 71’ (pen.)

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UCL – Barcelona v. Arsenal – HIGHLIGHTS – 31 Mins – SKYHD – HTTP
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