Barcelona left-back Alejandro Balde has undergone surgery on a hamstring injury in Finland.
The homegrown 20-year-old talent has played 28 matches in all competitions this season and was forced off 23 minutes into last Wednesday’s Copa del Rey defeat at Athletic Bilbao.
Tests showed Balde had sustained an injury to a hamstring tendon that required surgery, which could rule the Spain international out for the remainder of the season.
A statement from the LaLiga club read: “The first team player Alejandro Balde has undergone a successful surgical procedure on the injury to the tendon in his right hamstring.
“The procedure was carried out by Dr Lasse Lempainen, under the supervision of the club’s medical staff, in Turku, Finland.
“The player is unavailable for selection and his recovery will dictate his return.”
Balde joins Barca’s lengthy list of absentees. Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Marcos Alonso and Inigo Martinez are also out, as are Gavi and Raphinha.
Sergi Roberto also missed Saturday’s 5-3 home defeat against Villarreal with an Achilles tendon problem.
Celta Vigo 2-2 Barcelona: Stunning late show denies 10-man Blaugrana
Celta Vigo scored two goals in two minutes late on to earn an entertaining 2-2 draw with Barcelona in LaLiga at the Estadio Abanca-Balaidos.
League leaders Barca appeared to be cruising towards victory when they opened up a two-goal lead thanks to captain Raphinha and leading goalscorer Robert Lewandowski.
Raphinha cut inside before tucking home for the opener 15 minutes in, then Lewandowski got his 15th league goal of the season with a simple finish in the 61st minute.
However, the script changed when Blaugrana midfielder Marc Casado was sent off after receiving his second yellow card in the 82nd minute.
With Barca down to 10 men, the home side piled on the pressure and it told in the 84th minute, substitute Alfonso Gonzalez converting following an error from Jules Kounde.
The comeback was complete two minutes later, with Hugo Alvarez drilling past Inaki Pena to deny Flick's visitors victory.
Despite the result, Barca top LaLiga with 34 points, five ahead of Atletico Madrid in second and seven ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, who have two games in hand.
Data Debrief: Blaugrana finally held
Going into Saturday's game, Barcelona had gone 24 matches without a draw in LaLiga, winning 20 and losing four.
When they entered the final six minutes with a two-goal advantage, it appeared certain they would match their longest streak without a draw in the competition's history, recorded between February and October 2017 (25 games, 23 wins and two draws).
However, Hansi Flick's side were stunned at the death as they dropped points for a second game in succession following a 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad prior to the international break.
Girona 4-1 Espanyol: Miovski bags double as hosts ride on first-half blitz
Bojan Miovski scored twice as Girona thrashed Espanyol 4-1 in LaLiga at Estadi Municipal de Montilivi on Saturday.
Bryan Gil and Ladislav Krejci were also on the scoresheet as the home side raced to a 4-0 lead inside the first half hour, with Javi Puado scoring the visiting side's only goal after the break.
After the match was halted because of a fan being taken ill in the crowd, Gil opened the scoring when he unleashed a stunning long-range strike into the bottom corner with four minutes on the clock.
Gil was behind the second goal for Michel's side too, as he capitalised on a defensive error and crossed to Miovski, who made it 2-0 in the 16th minute before the pair combined again for a third five minutes later.
Donny van de Beek's header from Yaser Asprilla's corner was pushed in by Krejci for Girona's fourth in the 27th minute.
Espanyol got a consolation goal 10 minutes into the second half when Puado hit a long-range strike that found the back of Paulo Gazzaniga's net.
Girona, last season's surprise package, climbed to fifth in LaLiga with 21 points, while Espanyol are 19th and in the relegation zone with 10 points.
'I love where I am,' says Simeone after 700th game in charge of Atletico
Diego Simeone said he is "calm and at peace" at Atletico Madrid after his side edged Deportivo Alaves 2-1 in LaLiga in his 700th game in charge of the club.
Atletico went behind through a Jon Guridi penalty in the seventh minute, but Antoine Griezmann drew them level from the spot in the 76th minute.
The winner came via Alexander Sorloth in the 86th minute as Atletico moved four points behind leaders Barcelona.
Simeone, who has been in charge of Atletico since 2011, is the first coach to manage 700 matches with the same LaLiga club.
"I live in the present, we are having a good time, the boys are working very responsibly," Simeone told DAZN.
"I am calm and at peace. I love where I am and that's it."
He managed Atletico to LaLiga title triumphs in 2014 and 2021 and also helped Los Rojiblancos win two Europa League titles in 2012 and 2018.
The game against Alaves was Simeone's 492nd LaLiga match in charge, and the Argentine has also managed the third-most games with a single club in the Champions League (109), after Alex Ferguson with Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.
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