Real Betis confirm huge injury blow ahead of Europa League tie vs Manchester United

Real Betis will be without influential playmaker Nabil Fekir for their Europa League tie against Manchester United next month after he was ruled out for the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

The attacking midfielder is the Spanish side’s second-most productive player this season, having been involved in nine goals so far this term (six strikes and three assists).

Fekir picked up the injury in Friday’s 3-2 win over bottom club Elche ahead of a crunch clash with Real Madrid on Sunday before the trip to Old Trafford the following Thursday (March 9), with the reverse leg a week later.

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Confirming Fekir’s injury, a statement from Real Betis read: “Nabil Fekir suffered a hyperextension of his left knee in one of the last plays during the match against Elche CF last Friday.

“The tests he has undergone by the Real Betis Balompié medical services have confirmed that he has an anterior cruciate ligament injury in said knee. The player will have to undergo surgery in the next few days to resolve this injury, the prognosis of which implies that he will miss the remainder of the season.”

A tweet from an official club Twitter account clarified: “Fekir suffers an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his left knee. The player will miss the remainder of the season.”

There is better news for the fifth-place La Liga side, though. Top scorer Borja Iglesias returned from finger surgery to feature in Friday’s match to grab his fifth assist of the season. He is the club’s top contributor this season, with 10 goals in addition to his assists.

Betis - who beat Roma in the Europa League group stages - also have ex-Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo and