Puyol a doubt for Euros

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol could be out of this summer’s European Championships after the Catalan club announced he required knee surgery.

Puyol, 34, experienced discomfort after Saturday’s 4-0 defeat of Espanyol and will now go under the knife.

On the club’s official website, Barca explained Puyol decided to “undergo an arthroscopy on May 12” and that the approximate recuperation period is six weeks.

Puyol is definitely out of Barca's final Primera Division game at Real Betis at the weekend and will also miss coach Pep Guardiola's last game in charge - the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao on May 25.

And his participation in Poland and Ukraine is also extremely doubtful.

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque will announce a provisional squad on May 15 which will then be whittled down when the final party is confirmed on May 27.

The world and European champions open their campaign against Italy on June 10 before going on to play the Republic of Ireland and Croatia in Group C.