Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has confirmed that Andres Iniesta is likely to miss a number of weeks as a result of a knee injury sustained against Valencia.
The Spain international was carried off on a stretcher in obvious pain after a challenge from Enzo Perez during the first half of Barca’s 3-2 Liga win at Mestalla on Saturday.
The club later confirmed he had sustained damage to the lateral collateral ligament of his right knee, with initial reports in his homeland suggesting he will not play again until 2017.
Luis Enrique says further tests will be carried out on Sunday, but admitted that the problem looked “serious”, while he questioned how Perez escaped without even a yellow card.
“It was a game where a huge amount happened,” he told Barca TV. “The worst thing was the injury to Andres in an incident that everyone on the bench could see very clearly.”
He added in a news conference: “I explained perfectly earlier. It’s a clear incident in which we saw the player get injured, and there was no yellow card. Tomorrow we’ll see the severity of the injury but, yes, it’ll be weeks. It’s a serious one.”
The visitors snatched the win through Lionel Messi’s 94th-minute penalty – his second goal of the match – after Luis Suarez had levelled matters at 2-2 following two goals in quick succession from Barca loanee Munir El Haddadi and Rodrigo.
Luis Enrique hailed his side’s determination to fight for the win after they surrendered their advantage in a “crazy” start to the second half.
“The game had various phases. We started very well, we were able to create some superiority at 1-0 but then they drew level,” he said.
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