Barcelona's Carles Puyol: I thought about quitting football

Barcelona defender Carles Puyol has admitted he considered retiring from football following his recent knee injury.

The Spain international has just regained full fitness after undergoing an operation on the recurring problem in June.

Between January and August, Puyol missed about six months of action, and the 33-year-old has conceded he thought he may not have been able to play again.

"These were eight months of suffering," he told Antena3. "I had a hard time because I could not see a solution: I experienced loss of strength in my leg and I could not play.

"I even thought about quitting football."

Puyol was also questioned about the differences between bitter rivals Real Madrid and his own side, and the Catalan skipper was surprisingly kind with his remarks: "Madrid have few flaws, but their virtue is that they never give up."

Barcelona currently sit atop La Liga with 14 points, tied with Levante who have an inferior goal difference.

Barcelona fined £95,000 for fan flares in Uefa Super Cup win over Porto

Barcelona's attacking flair has seen them pick up 12 trophies in just over three seasons and wow the world with their exhibition-style flowing footbal, but the Spanish champions were hit with a €110,000 (£95,000) fine from Uefa on Thursday after their fans lit flares following their Super Cup victory in September.

Fans of the Catalan club celebrated their side's Uefa Super Cup win over Porto in Monaco late last month by lighting brightly-coloured flares in the stadium.

The 2-0 win against last season's Europa League winners saw Pep Guardiola's side claim their second piece of silverware of the campaign, following their Spanish Supercopa success against Real Madrid.

However, Uefa were unimpressed by the Catalans' conduct and have hit the Spanish side with a fine imposed by the organisation's Control and Disciplinary Body.

Barca president Sandro Rosell has 10 days to appeal against the sanction.