Rapid central defender Nenad Cvetkovic tore a cruciate ligament in his right knee in the 5-0 away win against Blau-Weiss Linz in the Admiral Bundesliga on Sunday without outside influence. The Hütteldorfer announced this on Monday.
The Serb, who arrived in the summer, immediately established himself as the chief of defence, after six competitive games the 27-year-old has now been out for several months. Cvetkovic will be operated on in the Rudolfinerhaus in Vienna.
Coach Zoran Barisic said on Sunday that he did not want to ask for a new player. “We have enough quality to compensate for Cvetkovic’s absence.”
In Linz, Maximilian Hofmann replaced the injured man as Leopold Querfeld’s new sidekick in central defence. Rapid meets Fiorentina in the first leg of the last qualifying round for participation in the Conference League on Thursday.
More see sport.ORF.at/fussball
