Rafinha Injury: Updates on Barcelona Midfielder's Knee and Return

Barcelona winger Rafinha underwent surgery to repair the torn ACL he suffered during the club's Champions League match against Roma on Sept. 16, which was expected to sideline him for the "rest of the season."

The 22-year-old was downed by a thumping challenge from Roma's Radja Nainggolan, who has apologised.

Continue for updates.

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Rafinha Undergoes Successful Operation 

Tuesday, Sept. 22

Sport passed along word that Rafinha's procedure was successful, adding the winger faces a six-month recovery.

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Nainggolan Sends Message to Rafinha

Thursday, Sept. 17

"Hello Rafinha, very sorry for the bad news. It wasn't my intention to hurt you. Hope to see you on the pitch soon," Nainggolan tweeted (h/t Football Espana).

Rafinha had to be stretchered off after Nainggolan's harsh challenge. He had been on the pitch for just four minutes after replacing Ivan Rakitic.

The youngster is an important part of Barca's attacking depth. He's appeared in three La Liga games this year (two starts), earning a solid 6.91 average match rating from WhoScored.com for his efforts.

While the starting attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez is set in stone, the team's depth up front is less pronounced. Munir el Haddadi will now likely see his role increase with the team, and he'll need to be prepared to make an impact from the bench or as an alternate starter.

It's also possible manager Luis Enrique will be forced to tinker with a different attacking setup if Messi, Neymar or Suarez aren't available for a game.