Villarreal's Angel ruled out for season

MADRID (Reuters) -- Villarreal full back Angel Lopez will be out for the rest of the season after having surgery to repair torn knee ligaments, the Spanish club said on Wednesday.

Angel suffered the injury during the 4-2 La Liga defeat at Real Madrid on Sunday, Villarreal said on their website (www.villarrealcf.com).

The loss of Angel, who will be out for six months, added to Juan Carlos Garrido's growing injury problems as he tries to maintain the side's momentum after an impressive season.

They head into Wednesday's King's Cup quarter-final first leg at home to holders Sevilla without the injured Angel, Spain internationals Marcos Senna and Carlos Marchena, and Brazilian striker Nilmar.

Midfielder Cani was cleared to join the squad, however, after the Spanish football federation approved an appeal from the club to reduce a red card he received on Sunday to a yellow.

Sunday's league defeat left Villarreal 11 points adrift of second-placed Real in third place.

(Writing by Mark Elkington, editing by Ed Osmond. To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Copyright: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Click For Restrictions. http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp