04.11.2008 22:59
Iniesta possibly out for 6 weeks
www.fcbarcelona.cat
In the game against Basel at the Camp Nou, Andrés Iniesta suffered a thigh strain, and although further tests will be required on Wednesday, it looks like he could be out for as many as six weeks.
In the 67th minute of the game between Barça and Basel, Andrés Iniesta called to be taken off after
injuring his right leg in an off-the-ball incident. Initial medical examinations suggest the player
has strained the intramuscular septum of the anterior rectus in his thigh.
More tests on Wednesday
This Wednesday the club’s Medical Services will be
examining the injury in more detail, but early reports suggest that an injury of this nature would
see the player sidelined for something in the region of six weeks.
That means the Barça midfielder is set to miss the forthcoming league games with Valladolid,
Recreativo, Getafe, Sevilla, Valencia, Real Madrid and possibly the game with Villarreal too.
Neither will he be involved in the
Copa del Rey clash with Benidorm
, or the last two Champions League encounters against Sporting Lisbon and Shakhtar. So in
total, he could miss as many as ten games.
Problems for Piqué
Gerard Piqué also hit on an injury in the final throes of Tuesday night’s
match. The defender ended the game with a haematoma and thigh strain in his right leg, and will
also need to take further tests on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Hleb and Sergio were the players selected for UEFA’s random drugs test.
Txiki: “Grondona respected the agreement”
Technical secretary Txiki Begiristain found out at half time that the new Argentina manager, Diego
Armando Maradona, has not named Leo Messi in his squad to play Scotland on November 19 in Glasgow.
Txiki said he had “not expected Messi to go”, and was able to confirm that through
making this decision “Grondona, the president of the AFA, has respected our agreement”.
The Barça official also spoke about the situation regarding Xavi’s contract, saying
that “reaching an agreement is more complicated than it might seem”.