Advertisement

Andres Iniesta adds to Barcelona's injury crisis

Barcelona`s injury problems mounted on Wednesday as captain Andres Iniesta hobbled off during their come-from-behind win against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday with a hamstring injury.

Andres Iniesta adds to Barcelona's injury crisis

Madrid: Barcelona`s injury problems mounted on Wednesday as captain Andres Iniesta hobbled off during their come-from-behind win against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday with a hamstring injury.

Iniesta was replaced after an hour by Jordi Alba with Barca trailing 1-0, but goals in the final 10 minutes by Sergi Roberto and Luis Suarez handed the Catalans a 2-1 win.

The European champions are already without four-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi for the next two months.

Iniesta is expected to miss Barca`s visit to Sevilla on Saturday and is a major doubt for Spain`s final two Euro 2016 qualifiers against Luxembourg and Ukraine.

With Brazilian international Rafinha ruled out for at least six months with a cruciate ligament injury, Barca boss Luis Enrique now has just seven midfielders and strikers available.

The blow is just the latest strain on a Barca squad hampered by injuries and a year-long ban from registering new players which will expire in January.

Barca appealed to FIFA to have Turkish midfielder Arda Turan added to their squad due to the seriousness of Rafinha`s injury.

Turan and Aleix Vidal were both signed during the summer transfer window, but can`t be registered to play until January.

However, FIFA believe such a move would be in contravention of their rules.