Chelsea: Thiago Silva’s wife was not happy with nasty incident vs Salzburg

Chelsea are through to the knockout stage of the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League.

After losing their first group game 1-0 to Dinamo Zagreb, a result which led to the sacking of Thomas Tuchel, the Blues have rallied to secure qualification with one fixture to spare.

Chelsea beat Red Bull Salzburg 2-1 away from home on Tuesday evening, goals from Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz securing three more points for Graham Potter.

Overall, it was a fairly decent performance by the west London outfit, with some of their football on the night a joy to watch.

Read more: Chelsea showed what ‘Potter ball’ is all about with silky passage of play vs Salzburg

Defensive leader Thiago Silva was arguably Chelsea’s best player out in Austria, although it’s a minor miracle that he was able to complete the full 90 minutes.

In the dying embers of the match, the Brazilian stalwart was involved in a nasty incident which could’ve seen him pick up a very serious injury.

As Silva jumped to try and win a header, Salzburg striker Roko Simic – who had entered the fray just moments before – unnecessarily backed into the Chelsea man.

It resulted in the 38-year-old defender hitting the ground incredibly awkwardly and with a serious amount of force as well.

SALZBURG, AUSTRIA – OCTOBER 25: Thiago Silva of Chelsea FC plays the ball during the UEFA Champions League group E match between FC Salzburg and Chelsea FC at Football Arena Salzburg on October 25, 2022 in Salzburg, Austria. (Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images) Silva’s wife, Belle, has tweeted about the incident

The slow-motion replay of Silva crashing to the turf after being made to do a mid-air somersault by Simic is pretty darn brutal.

Silva’s wife, Belle, tweeted footage of it in the early hours of Wednesday morning with an accompanying caption that read: “Is it a soccer game or MMA??”

She’s certainly got a valid point…

Video: Silva was lucky to avoid serious injury vs Salzburg

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Ouch. Watching that happen to your loved one must be absolutely horrible and football’s governing bodies need to step in and create a rule that sees players severely punished for committing offences such as the one above.

Silva’s neck or back could’ve suffered serious damage as a result of Simic’s reckless actions, but he was fortunately able to remain on the pitch to see out the remainder of the game after being checked by the Chelsea medical staff.

Read more: Silva showed incredible football IQ in win vs Salzburg

So, Chelsea’s place in the last-16 of the Champions League is secured and due to their superior head-to-head record versus AC Milan, they will go through to the knockout round as group winners.

Champions League quiz: Can you name these 20 players from the 1990s?

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