MADRID — Carles Puyol's dislocated elbow will keep him out of action for about two months and means Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova faces another unwelcome defensive conun drum for Sunday's La Liga ‘Clasico' at home to Real Madrid. In his first game back after a knee injury, Puyol landed heavily in the second half of Tuesday's 2-0 Champions League Group G victory at Benfica and the La Liga club said Wednesday he would be sidelined for about eight weeks. The shaggy-haired 34-year-old, whose regular central defensive partner Gerard Pique has not played since hurting his foot two weeks ago, was taken to hospital for checks before flying back to the Catalan capital. He spent the night under observation in a clinic and appeared in good spirits Wednesday morning. “Good day! The sun always comes out again ... thanks for all your messages! A big hug,” he wrote on his Twitter feed. Barca will sorely miss Puyol's experience and inspirational do-or-die attitude Sunday and if Pique does not recover in time, Vilanova may again be forced to deploy new signing Alex Song alongside fellow converted midfielder Javier Mascherano. Cardiff goes top Cardiff moved to the top of the Championship Tuesday with a 2-1 win over Birmingham after previous leader Brighton stumbled to a 1-1 draw against struggling Ipswich. Brighton, beaten by Birmingham Saturday, needed a late equalizer to salvage a home draw with Ipswich. Daryl Murphy converted a Carlos Edwards cross in the 27th minute to put Ipswich ahead and, although substitute Will Buckley levelled with 10 minutes left, Gus Poyet's team dropped to third. Leicester climbed to second thanks to a 2-0 win at Huddersfield. Fifth placed Wolves missed the chance to boost its promotion prospects as Wilfried Zaha scored twice in the second half to give Crystal Palace a 2-1 win at Molineux after Sylvan Ebanks-Blake opened the scoring for the host. Elsewhere, Blackpool went fourth after a 3-2 win over Hull at the KC Stadium, Bolton drew 2-2 with Leeds and bottom of the table Peterborough won 2-0 at Barnsley. Watford beat Charlton 2-1 at the Valley. Charlie Austin's hat trick for Burnley was not enough to take the points at Turf Moor as Sheffield Wednesday claimed a 3-3 draw, while Bristol City and Millwall shared a 1-1 draw. — Agencies
