Sanchez says ‘pain was killing me’ after freak collision with linesman before coming on in Man Utd defeat to PSG
The Chilean has laughed at the incident and vows to be ready for Monday's FA Cup clash against Chelsea
ALEXIS SANCHEZ has said "the pain was killing him" when he suffered a freak injury in a collision with one of the linesmen in last week's defeat to PSG.
But the Chilean laughs at the incident and vows to be ready for Monday's FA Cup clash against Chelsea.
Despite suffering a nasty knee injury in the bizarre accident, Sanchez replaced Jesse Lingard who had to be hauled off the pitch with a muscular problem seconds before half-time.
But the 30-year-old forward's performance was bland, prompting Red Devils coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to hit out at the Chilean after the game.
And Sanchez revealed he was in a lot of pain after his collision with referee Fabiano Preti, who he did not expect to see on that side of the pitch.
He told : "Before coming on in the game against PSG, I was warming up on the touchline and I always warm up on the other side because, as a rule, there aren’t any assistant referees on that side.
"In the Champions League they change sides.
"At one point, I was warming up, stretching out my leg and watching the game at the same time.
"We had a quick breakaway and the linesman was coming from here and, suddenly, I looked up and ‘bang!’ And I went: ‘Ouch!’
"And I was about to go on because it looked as if Jesse Lingard was struggling. The pain was killing me. I said to myself ‘Lingard’s injured, and now I’m about to get injured myself! No way, it can’t be!'"
Sanchez said that thanks to a quick reaction from United's medical staff he was able to come on the pitch - and the incident is now just a funny anecdote which should not sideline him for Monday's clash against Chelsea.
He added: I went into the dressing room and got loose quickly and, as I warmed up, they worked on my leg, here. But it wasn’t an excuse for coming on in this game.
It’s just now an anecdote about something that had never happened to me before in my life. It’s just something that is very funny.
";It’s okay now. It was okay for me to play on it and it’s not an excuse for not being at my best. It was quite a hard knock but it was fine for me to come on."