Paris Saint-Germain centre-back Presnel Kimpembe has been ruled out for the rest of the season after tearing his Achilles tendon in Sunday's win over Marseille in Le Classique.
The France international started as part of a back three with Sergio Ramos and Marquinhos at the Orange Velodrome, but he lasted just 16 minutes of the match before being stretchered off.
PSG still managed to post an eye-catching 3-0 victory thanks to Kylian Mbappe's brace and a Lionel Messi strike, but concern immediately turned to Kimpembe at the full-time whistle.
Parisiens head coach Christophe Galtier confirmed to Amazon Prime that the injury to the defender was a serious one, and he would not play again for the remainder of the season.
"Unfortunately, he's seriously injured and he'll be out for the remainder of the season. He has excruciating pain to his Achilles' tendon. We believe it's serious," Galtier said, and PSG confirmed the diagnosis in a medical update late on Sunday night.
The Ligue 1 champions announced that Kimpembe would soon go under the knife to repair the rupture, saying: "Presnel Kimpembe has ruptured his right Achilles tendon. He will undergo surgery to repair the tendon in the coming days."
Kimpembe's Achilles rupture brings an end to an injury-plagued season for the 27-year-old, who has been restricted to just 15 appearances in all tournaments during the 2022-23 campaign.
Kimpembe missed most of October with a hamstring injury, although he managed to recover in time for the World Cup and was initially called up to Didier Deschamps's France squad.
However, an Achilles tendon problem then bedevilled the centre-back, who was forced to withdraw from the Bleus squad, and he spent the whole of December and January recuperating.
Kimpembe made his return in PSG's 3-1 Ligue 1 defeat to Monaco on February 11, and he captained Les Parisiens to their dramatic 4-3 win over Lille two weekends ago, coming through the full 90 minutes unscathed.
The Frenchman has amassed three goals and three assists from 236 games in a PSG shirt, but his contract at the Parc des Princes is due to expire at the end of next season.
PSG boss Galtier has been forced to work around a wealth of untimely injury problems since the turn of the year, with Neymar, Achraf Hakimi and Renato Sanches also missing Sunday's win over Marseille.
Hakimi's ankle issue should not keep him sidelined for long, but Neymar is expected to spend another couple of weeks out with the sprain he sustained versus Lille on February 19.
Despite their ongoing fitness and form concerns, PSG opened up an eight-point lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table on Sunday night, where Mbappe and Messi both reached new goalscoring heights.
Mbappe's brace saw the 24-year-old equal Edinson Cavani's all-time record of 200 goals for PSG, while Messi's effort took the Argentine World Cup winner onto 700 career club goals. body check tags ::
