Espanyol's Aleix Vidal suffered one of the most gruesome injuries in recent memory after wearing cardboard shinpads.
The 32-year-old had to be substituted in the 81st minute of his side's 2-2 draw against Real Betis at the weekend.
He had opened the scoring early on but as the end of the second half neared, his bone was sticking out following a horrific large gash.
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WARNING: Images that might not be suitable for the squeamish:
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The former Barcelona and Sevilla man was eager to play out but quickly realised it was not the sort of injury he could run off.
In the end, the sickening wound required a total of 15 stitches and ruled Vidal out of Espanyol's 1-0 win over Alaves on Wednesday evening.
But as pictures show, it would appear that Vidal's choice of shinpads didn't exactly help his cause.
The Spaniard's shin-guards looked incredibly thin and cardboard-like, barely offering any protection for the bottom part of his leg on the pitch.
The injury was actually caused by a late and reckless challenge from Betis' German Pezzella in the 73rd minute.
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Vidal was quickest to the ball and was caught badly on the tibia.
The Argentine defender was promptly sent off courtesy of a VAR review that lasted around three minutes.
Despite the shocking damage to Vidal's leg, Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini claimed a yellow card would be have the correct decision in his opinion.
Featured Image Credit: Image: Twitter & PATopics: La Liga, Injury, Barcelona
