Tiago Cardoso Mendes had surgery on Thursday morning of the right arm fracture that occurred in the second leg of the semifinals of the Copa del Rey match at the Sanchez Pizjuan. The midfielder had to come off in the first half after a strong kick that caused the fracture when struggling for the ball with Medel. Upon arrival at Madrid he underwent tests that confirmed the extent of the injury and was admitted overnight to be operated on at midmorning.

The surgical technique was to fit a metal plate and a screw in the middle third of the right ulna. The operation was successful and the player will be watching developments. The doctors that were involved in the surgery were José María Abad Morenilla, Fernando García de Lucas, Enrique Monzo, Gabriel Ruiz and Ramón Carosini.

I tried to keep playing but I realised I could not continue, the bone was broken and I felt the whole arm move

 Tiago spoke for the Atlético website about the injury, the game and the fact they’ll be playing another final. The midfielder said that "we were very focussed on the match. We knew what we had to do, get the ball and be strong, with clear ideas and we were lucky that Diego Costa got a goal and almost scored the second. With the tie 0-2 we were almost through".

On the injury he said that "on that play Medel caught me. He was going to clear the ball and to protect my face I put my arm in the way. I felt that something was wrong because I did a lot of damage. I tried to keep playing but I realized I could not continue. The bone was broken and whole arm moved. It hurt so much and I tried to hold it with the other arm so it does not move much."

It comes at a bad time for him because "I was feeling pretty good in the squad. The team is giving a very good response after a less good time. Injuries never come at a good time and now I have to recover well. We have a team full of great players and we will work to see what we can do in Malaga".

The team is already thinking about the next game and Sunday against Malaga. "It will be a difficult game against a direct rival in the fight for the Champions League place. They come full of confidence and the team is good. We will try to get the maximum points," he concluded.
# ÁnimoTiago, trending topic in Spain
The painful withdrawal of Tiago from the pitch clutching his broken arm caused a chain reaction of support on social networks like Twitter. Thousands of fans sent their tweet with the hashtag #ÁnimoTiago, making it a trending topic in Spain.