Barca defender Umtiti out for three weeks

FC Barcelona suffered a further injury setback when it was confirmed that central defender Samuel Umtiti will be out of action for three weeks with a muscle injury.

Umtiti suffered the injury to his left hamstring while training with the French national team on Wednesday and returned to Barcelona for tests, reports Xinhua.

The tests were carried out on Thursday and confirmed he will be sidelined for three weeks, meaning he will miss league matches against Malaga and Real Sociedad, a King's Cup game away to third tier side, Hercules and a Champions League tie away to Glasgow Celtic.

Umtiti's goal will be to be fit for the first 'El Clasico' of the season when Barca entertain bitter rivals Real Madrid in the Camp Nou Stadium on December 3.

This is Umtiti's second injury since joining Barca from Lyon over the summer and comes at a bad time for the club as Gerard Pique, Jeremy Mathieu, Jordi Alba and Andres Iniesta have all missed the past fortnight with a variety of injuries, although Pique, Alba and Mathieu should recover by the end of the current international break and be available to face Malaga on November 18.

--IANS

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