Barcelona midfielder out with toe injury

Chelsea's French midfielder N'Golo Kante (right) vies with Barcelona's Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets during their Uefa Champions League round of 16 second leg match at the Camp Nou in Barcelona on March 14, 2018. PHOTO | LLUIS GENE |

What you need to know:

  • Busquets hobbled off in the 61st minute of Barca's 3-0 win over Chelsea on Wednesday as Lionel Messi's double sealed a 4-1 victory on aggregate.
  • Ousmane Dembele was also on target at the Camp Nou.

BARCELONA

Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets will be out for around three weeks with a fractured toe and faces a race to be fit for next month's Champions League quarter-finals.

Busquets hobbled off in the 61st minute of Barca's 3-0 win over Chelsea on Wednesday as Lionel Messi's double sealed a 4-1 victory on aggregate. Ousmane Dembele was also on target at the Camp Nou.

The Catalans will discover on Friday their last eight opponent, with the first leg scheduled for April 3 or 4, leaving Busquets a maximum of 21 days to recover.

Busquets' injury comes at a bad time too for Spain, with coach Julen Lopetegui due to announce on Friday his squad for friendlies against Germany on March 23 and Argentina on March 27.

A Barcelona statement on Thursday read: "The tests performed have confirmed that the player of the first team Sergio Busquets has a fracture in the phalanx of the fifth right toe with a wound. His approximate absence is three weeks."