FORMER Chelsea striker Demba Ba’s career could be over after the 31-year-old suffered a horrific broken leg in the Shanghai derby Sunday.

    The Senegalese marksman tangled with SIPG defender and captain Sun Xiang in the 63rd minute of his side’s 2-1 Chinese Super League victory.

    As the pair fell, Ba’s leg was caught between the turf and his opponent’s boot, bending at a sickening angle and then appearing to snap gruesomely below the knee.

    Shenhua’s medical team raced on to the pitch without waiting for the referee’s signal and the match was stopped for eight minutes while the Chinese Super League’s top scorer, with 14 goals, was treated on the pitch before being taken to hospital.

    Speaking after the match, a visibly shaken Shenhua coach Gregorio Manzano said the incident was potentially career-ending.

    “In my 33 years as a coach I have won, drawn and lost games, but today is the most bitter victory because what happened to Demba Ba is what no one ever wants to see,” Manzano said.

    Shenhua, who won the match 2-1, described the injury as a broken leg and said the incident — for which Sun was not booked — was “unfortunate” in a statement released yesterday.

    Manzano told local media that Ba, who also played for Newcastle and West Ham in England, would be out for at least seven months.

    “If I can choose, I’d rather lose the match than lose Demba Ba,” Manzano told the Shanghai Daily newspaper.

    SIPG’s coach, the former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, expressed sympathy, according to the Shanghai Daily, saying: “It was a bad injury. I’m very sorry for Ba.”

    Ba’s former club Chelsea posted a message of support on their official Twitter feed. “All at Chelsea FC send our best wishes to former striker @dembabafoot. Get well soon Demba,” it said.

    Ba has been a revelation since moving to Chinese football from Besiktas in 2015, netting 14 goals in 18 Super League appearances for Shanghai Shenhua in 2016 to lead the league’s scoring charts.

    Hulk and Dario Conca were missing from the SIPG line-up due to injuries, while Shenhua had its complete squad, including Ba, Giovanni Moreno and Fredy Guarin.

    The first half did not see many chances though visiting SIPG was forced into an early substitution when its South Korean defender Kim Ju-young got injured in the 17th.

    The first goal came nine minutes after the interval. A powerful shot from SIPG’s Wu Lei beat Shenhua goalie Li Shuai, flying into the top right corner of the net.

    The situation turned worse for the hosts when Ba lay on the grass in pain after a clash with Sun in the 63rd. His leg was seen twisted when falling. Ba was replaced by Obafemi Martins after seven minutes of treatment on the pitch.

    Shenhua made two more substitutions in the 80th, and its continuous attacks paid off when Cao Yunding claimed the equalizer in the 86th.  (SD-Agencies)