A serious knee injury to Ellie Carpenter couldn’t stop the Matildas star from celebrating her second Champions League title.
The 22-year-old suffered a suspected ruptured ACL less than 15 minutes into the first half of Lyon‘s (Olympique Lyonnais) two-goal win over Barcelona on Sunday morning.
Carpenter hurt her knee in an early challenge against Barca’s Fridolina Rolfo but was able to play on. However, the defender’s knee later gave way as she ran onto the ball, forcing her to be taken from the field on a stretcher.
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Despite the disappointing event, Carpenter watched on as her teammates beat Barcelona 3-1, even participating in the post-match celebrations with her leg in a brace and a pair of crutches on hand.
Speaking after the victory, Lyon coach Sonia Bompastor shared a glum prognosis of Carpenter’s injury.
“I’m not too optimistic. I think it’s quite a serious injury, we’ll send her for testing and exams once we get back to Lyon. I don’t think it’s looking good,” she said.
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With scans yet to reveal the extent of the injury, it appears almost certain that Carpenter will miss the upcoming Matildas fixtures against Spain and Portugal at the end of June.
The injury is a massive blow to the Matlidas’ FIFA World Cup campaign with the home competition only 14 months away.
Carpenter won her first UEFA Champions League crown with the now eight-time conquering French team in 2020.