The Newcastle United midfielder injured his groin when he stretched awkwardly in his own penalty area, and was in obvious discomfort as he received treatment on the side of the pitch.
Tonali was walking extremely awkwardly as he went around the side of the pitch to the dugouts, and has just three days in which to recover from Sunday’s game with Sunderland.
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His absence would be a major blow to Newcastle, who are already without their injured skipper Bruno Guimaraes.
“I’d say he’s a doubt [for the Sunderland game],” said Howe. “It looks like he’s got a groin, hip problem. I thought he performed really well in the first half, and we really missed him in that second period. I don’t know if he’ll miss the weekend, but I’d say it’s possible.”
With their European adventure over after last night’s 7-2 thrashing in the Nou Camp, Newcastle’s sole focus in the remainder of the season is now on trying to improve their league position.
The Magpies are currently ninth, three points behind seventh-placed Brentford and seven points adrift of fifth-placed Liverpool with eight games remaining.
Securing a return to the Champions League looks an extremely tough task, although Howe will be challenging his players to do everything they can to ensure they are playing European football of some description next season.
“This is where we want to be,” he said. “As much as this is a harsh scoreline for us, and a painful experience, to see the players playing the way they did in the first half and executing 90 per cent of what we wanted was a great feeling and a great sight.
“I don’t think that should all be forgotten with the scoreline, as difficult as that is for everyone to see.”