Chelsea attacking midfielder Mason Mount had to be withdrawn early in the FIFA Club World Cup final as his injury woes from the Plymouth win carry into the biggest of games.
Mount, 23, was selected for the final after only coming on against Al Hilal in the previous round from the bench as Thomas Tuchel and his coaching team looked to manage his minutes smartly, knowing what happened last weekend in the FA Cup against the League One outfit.
"Hopefully not, we will see. He felt an injury in extra time with this shot on goal. Only by this shot – it wasn't a serious problem during the game – it was only when he had the shot he realised he had quick he felt pain and so we took him off," Tuchel's assistant Arno Michels said after the FA Cup fourth round win.
"We will see. There will be further exams. Hopefully, it's not too bad but right now I can't promise what the situation is."
With this in mind, Tuchel took the risk to select him from the start in this showpiece event. It is a decision that looks to have backfired with Mount being forced off 32 minutes.
Christian Pulisic was Mount's replacement, with the England international potentially spending a spell on the touchline whilst he recovers fully from an injury niggle that had put his participation in the Club World Cup in jeopardy before the squad travelled out last Saturday.
We will likely hear more from manager Tuchel on what happened after the game, with fans on social media claiming the incident is and was a 'game changer' as both sides went into the break level at 0-0 after a scrappy and tense affair at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium.
Here's the best of the reaction on social media to this blow for the European Champions, who have really undergone a difficult test in the first half against the Brazilian giant.
@N1cBenedict hopes: 'Damn hope it's a minor one. C'mon Pulisic!'
@Nithinkottaram reckons: 'This may be a game changing moment.'
On the other hand, @bluedaze65 doesn't believe this blow makes a major difference: 'In fairness he’s had a pretty ineffective first 30. Good to see Pulisic providing proper pace and width.'
@f9aymagoat questioned Tuchel's decision made in the afermath of the Mount incident: 'Why not ziyech?'
You can follow live coverage of the second half in the Club World Cup Final between Chelsea and Palmeiras on football.london here.
