PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN today confirmed that midfielder Thiago Motta suffered a fractured nose in an ugly clash with Brazilian striker Brandao after Saturday’s 2-0 win against SC Bastia.
Images from surveillance cameras in the tunnel at the Parc des Princes showed Brandao waiting for Motta to approach him before headbutting the Brazil-born Italy international at the end of the Ligue 1 game won 2-0 by PSG.
The French champions added that right-back Gregory Van der Wiel suffered “a fracture of the second lumbar vertebra following a knee in the back from the Bastia player Brandao in the first half.”
The game, in which Lucas and Edinson Cavani found the net, was also overshadowed by the early injury to Zlatan Ibrahimovic that forced him off.
PSG said that the Swede, who was the stand-in captain in the absence of Thiago Silva with a hamstring injury, had “a partial tear of the left oblique muscle of the 12th rib.”
They added that “the evolution of these injuries under treatment over the next few days will allow the medical staff to estimate recovery times.”
Brandao, who was suspended for four matches last season for elbowing PSG’s Yohan Cabaye at the Parc des Princes while playing for Saint-Etienne, risks a lengthy suspension for his behaviour with Paris president Nasser Al-Khelaifi on Saturday calling for a lifetime ban.
Bastia said that they would only release a detailed statement on Monday after speaking to the player and others involved in the incidents in the capital.
