What's the story?
In the comfortable 4-0 victory over Eibar, Barcelona lost their key midfielder Sergio Busquets in the opening 10 minutes due to an ankle injury. It is now being reported that the Spanish midfielder might be out for a month.
Tests yesterday have confirmed that Busquets has sprained his ankle ligament and while the club has not issued a timeline as to when the player will make his comeback, local press reports have claimed that the holding midfielder is out for a month.
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Sergio Busquets had to be taken off on a stretcher on Sunday against Eibar after just 10 minutes into the match. A challenge from Gonzalez Escalante left him seething in pain and was substituted by Dennis Suarez, who scored the opening goal for the Catalans.
Busquets has started 17 out 19 league games this season and has played 27 of 32 games for the Catalans this season.
The heart of the matter
FC Barcelona issued an official statement saying that the midfielder underwent tests on his right ankle and it emerged that the player has suffered sprain in the external lateral ligament in his right ankle.
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"Results on Monday confirm that he has a sprained external lateral ligament in his right ankle. The player is out and his return will depend on his recovery," said the Barcelona statement.
The statement did not offer a return date for Spaniard but an injury of this sort mostly sees a player out of action for at least a month. Busquets will now most likely miss the second leg of the Copa Del Rey quarterfinal against Real Sociedad and also Sunday's league match against Real Betis.
What's next?
If Barcelona progress to the semi-finals of the domestic cup competition, the midfielder will miss the two legs of the semi-finals which are scheduled in the next two weeks.
Along with the domestic games, Busquets will also miss the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain. The Spaniard is expected to make his return in the league game against Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon.
Sportskeeda's take
Despite an injury to one of the club's most important cog in the wheel, Barcelona must stay positive as they have many options to cover for the injured Busquets. After he was brought off against Eibar, Ivan Rakitic played in his role and did a decent enough job.
Along with Rakitic, the Catalans have Javier Mascherano, Sergi Roberto and Andre Gomes who can all play the defensive midfielder role.
