Barça's Piqué faces up to a month out after "Battle of Cornellà"
The Spain defender could miss the Champions League tie against Chelsea after leaving the RCDE carrying a knock after a feisty derbi barceloní.
Gerard Piqué had his say in the Barcelona derby, scoring the equaliser to deny Espanyol a first Liga derby win since 2009 and putting his finger to his lips after being hounded by the home crowd throughout the game after his recent comments about the club's location added to a war of words between the player and Espanyol fans.
However, he left the RCDE Stadium with a knock and could face up to a month out.
On Monday, AS learned that Piqué was undergoing tests at the Ciutat Esportiva to determine the extent of his injury but could face up to a month on the sidelines, giving Ernesto Valverde a serious headache with Thomas Vermaelen also out injured and January signing Yerry Mina having yet to make his debut.
Yerry Mina waiting in the wings
Valverde did not rule out rushing the Colombia international into action even though he has only participated in a few training sessions with his new club. "We are not in pre-season and there is no times for experiments," Valverde said last week. "We are in a critical stage of the season and when he is needed to play, he will play."
Piqué's unidentified injury appears to have stemmed from a robust challenge by Espanyol goal scorer Gerard Moreno towards the end of the second half, which precipitated a melee between both sets of players. The Espanyol forward went through Piqué as the defender was making a clearance, colliding with some pace with the defender's raised leg.
Although Barcelona have yet to make a statement, it appears that Piqué could miss most of February.
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