Former Chelsea Boss Andre Villas-Boas Taken to Hospital After Crashing Out of Dakar Rally

Andre Villas-Boas had to withdraw from the Dakar Rally after being taken to hospital with a back injury on Wednesday.

The 40-year-old hit a sand dune during the fourth stage of the rally in Peru while driving his Toyota Hilux.

This resulted in the former Chelsea and Tottenham boss being taken to hospital for checks. The Portuguese was in 43rd place during his debut display in the rally before the incident – in which he sustained no broken bones.

''Andre was taken to the hospital with a back injury. It was unfortunate for Andre, who was making a very positive debut in the Dakar.'' Overdrive team director Jean-Marc Fortin said, as per the Daily Mail.

Villas-Boas surprisingly left his role as manager of Chinese side Shanghai SIPG in November to compete in the rally.

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The former Chelsea manager - who was seen to be Jose Mourinho's Protégé - won three trophies with Porto during his spell in the 2010-11 season.

After his tenure in Portugal, he went onto have season-long spells at Chelsea and Tottenham respectively. He didn't have the most successful time in the English capital as he boasted no trophies during his two seasons in London.

He then went on to manage Zenit St Petersburg for two seasons and then moved to China to take charge of Shanghai SIPG in 2016. He left the Chinese club in November last year after turning down a new contract.