Guillem Balague told Revista of Sevilla's and Spanish football's shock at the tragic loss of 22-year-old Antonio Puerta.
Revista de La Liga
Tuesdays on Sky Sports
The start of the new La Liga season has been overshadowed by the tragic death of Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta, who collapsed during his side's opening-day defeat of Getafe.
And on the first
Revista of the new year, Guillem Balague told Mark Bolton of Spanish football's shock at the loss of one of its most promising talents.
Puerta, who died in hospital three days after suffering a cardiac arrest, was just 22 and a newly-capped Spanish international left-back who had caught the eye of the country's biggest clubs.
"Puerta had actually fainted twice in the previous 12 months," Guillem said. "But doctors had run all kinds of tests, and nobody could find anything.
"He fainted again in the dressing-room after leaving the pitch, and all the correct machines were in place. They helped him not to die in the dressing room.
"He was taken to hospital and induced into a coma, but it was just not enough.
"He was 22, a guy who could have gone to Real Madrid this summer, a brand new international and a huge Sevilla fan.
"Everybody loved him and he was helping Sevilla go through the best period in their history. Suddenly, he's gone..."
Sevilla's ambition to add the Liga title to their two UEFA Cup successes now sits a distant second to their sense of loss, and Guillem believes they may not recover in time to challenge this season.
"Last season Villarreal lost Nihat in pre-season to injury only, and they did not recover for six months - everyone got a bit scared, did a bit less tackling etc.
"Now what we are seeing with Sevilla is huge. It will have an impact - you can see it already in their faces. They will have a difficult time to recover from this.
"The hope, though it sounds cold, is that the show will go on, but for now everything is on hold."
