Iniesta to miss first two La Liga games with knee strain
The Barcelona captain suffered a contusion in his right knee against Sevilla on Sunday night, ruling him out for two weeks
Barcelona’s victory against Sevilla on Sunday night was soured with the injuries to Andrés Iniesta and Mathieu in the first-half of the Spanish Super Cup first-leg tie.
After undergoing tests on Monday morning, it was revealed that Iniesta will be out of action for two weeks after suffering from a strained right knee. It was originally feared he might have ligament damage, but that turns out not to be the case.
The Barça captain will now miss his side's opening La Liga encounters (Betis at home and Bilbao away), the second leg of the Super Cup, as well as being doubtful for Spain's friendly against Belgium on 1 September and the first match of the World Cup qualifiers against Liechtenstein (5 Sep).
Frenchman Mathieu meanwhile will be out for three weeks after coming off against Sevilla with a pulled hamstring. Mathieu left the field in the 25th minute with Digne coming on to replace him at left-back. Ten minutes later, Barça coach Luis Enrique had to bring on another of his summer signings (none of whom made his first official starting 11 of the season), with Denis Suárez entering in place of Iniesta.