Blow for Barça and USMNT as hamstring injury sidelines Dest
Sergino Dest injured his hamstring in Barcelona's win over Galatasaray and will play no part in Sunday's El Clasico or USA's upcoming games.
Bad news for Barcelona and US Soccer fans as defender Sergino Dest has been ruled out of Sunday's El Clasico with Real Madrid and the United States' final batch of World Cup qualifiers.
The 21-year-old injured his left hamstring during the early stages of the second half in Barca's 2-1 Europa League last-16 second-leg win over Galatasaray on Thursday.
Dest has undergone a scan and Barcelona confirmed on Friday that he will not return to action until after the international break.
As a result, Dest has been replaced by Arminia Bielefeld left-back George Bello in USA's squad for their qualifiers against Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica.
Dani Alves is expected to slot in for Dest in a straight swap for the LaLiga trip to Madrid, but the veteran full-back is not registered for the Europa League.
Barcelona will face Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals of that competition, with the first leg scheduled for April 7.
Ajax academy product Dest has featured 20 times for Barça this term – the 10th most of any player – and has been capped 17 times by USA.