Abidal recovering after 9-hour liver op - report

Barcelona's French defender Eric Abidal was recovering in intensive care on Wednesday, after undergoing a lengthy liver transplant operation, the Catalan daily Mundo Deportivo said.

The newspaper said in its online edition that the surgery started at about 3:00 pm local time (1300 GMT) on Tuesday and finished at midnight (2200 GMT). The 32-year-old player was then taken to a specialist unit for post-operative care, it added.

Barcelona announced on March 15 that Abidal needed a liver transplant "in the coming weeks", nearly a year after he had a tumour removed from the same organ.

Club officials have expressed hopes that he will return to action but Spanish transplant experts have voiced doubts that he can play top-flight football again, given the risk of complications if he picked up a knock in his abdomen.