Barcelona are set to be without Gerard Pique once again
after the club confirmed he suffered a knee ligament injury shortly after his
Copa del Rey heroics against Sevilla.
Pique's stoppage-time header after the 90-minute mark in
Wednesday's semi-final second leg saw Barca wipe out Sevilla's 2-0 lead from
the first meeting last month, with Ousmane Dembele having struck early on.
Barca went on to win 3-0 after extra time, Martin
Braithwaite getting the decisive goal five minutes after the restart to leave
Sevilla – who had Fernando set off just before Pique's header – on the
receiving end of a commendable comeback.
But it seemingly came at a cost, with Pique appearing to
hurt his knee in extra time when he was forced into an awkward turn while
passing back to Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who had earlier saved a penalty from
Lucas Ocampos when the score was 1-0.
Pique went down holding his knee only to eventually see out
the game, suggesting the issue was not a particularly serious one.
But Barca confirmed on Thursday that further examinations
have revealed a sprain to the internal lateral ligament in his right knee.
While the club said the length of his absence will be
dependent on his recovery, such sprains can mean a six-week absence.
That could potentially rule him out of El Clasico on April
10, while it seems a strong possibility Pique will miss the second leg of
Barca's Champions League last-16 tie away to Paris Saint-Germain next week.
PSG hold a 4-1 advantage from the first leg at Camp Nou on
February 16, the match in which Pique returned from a previous knee injury
sustained in November.
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