NICE fans were stunned to see Sofiane Diop play on in their clash with Ferencvaros – after an injury so severe he was covered with a SCREEN.
The 24-year-old midfielder was shielded from view as medical staff rushed onto the field during Thursday’s Europa League clash in Hungary.
Diop went down after clashing heads with a teammate midway through the first half at the Groupama Arena.
Medical staff ran onto the field as the former Monaco star hit the turf, with Ferencvaros defenders urging them to hurry.
Diop remained down on the ground for several minutes, with stewards holding a makeshift medical tent made out of Ferencvaros flags.
Luckily for Diop, he appeared to escape serious injury after walking away under his own steam.
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Diop was strapped up by the medical team with a bandage, with blood seemingly visible on the back of his head.
And fans were stunned to see him return to the game just moments after the collision.
One wrote on X: “It’s not serious to keep Sofiane Diop in this match! He needs to get stitched up and go out.”
Another said: “I hope that is nothing serious for Sofiane Diop.”
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Trailing 1-0 after an own goal from Moise Bombito, Nice eventually subbed Diop out of the contest at half-time, around 20 minutes after the incident.
He was replaced by former Birmingham City midfielder Jeremie Boga.
A former French international youth star, Diop has opted to play for Morocco at international level.
He began his career with Rennes before joining Monaco in July 2018.
New Europa League format explained
THE Europa League has been given a revamp this season, with a whole new group-stage format.
All 36 teams are in one big league.
Each team will play eight matches in the opening phase – against seeded opposition, in a system designed to ensure that teams play opponents of similar difficulty.
At the end of the league phase, the top eight teams in the “final” table will automatically go through to the last 16, where they will be joined by the eight play-off winners of ties between the sides placed ninth to 24th in the table.
The bottom 12 teams are eliminated from Europe entirely.
Despite there being just eight matches in the opening phase, European matches will be spread over 10 midweek slots.
The knockout phase of the tournament remains the same as previous years.
The Tours native spent four years in Monte Carlo, including a successful season on loan at Sochaux.
Diop linked up with Nice in August 2022, with the £18.3m midfielder currently enjoying a breakout season.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
