MADRID, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona will be without defender Joao Cancelo for its Copa del Rey debut away to fourth tier Barbastro on Sunday and will almost certainly be without him for next week's Spanish Supercup in Saudi Arabia after he suffered a knee injury in Thursday's 2-1 win away to Las Palmas.
Cancelo received a knock to his left knee in the fourth minute of the game that Barca won thanks to an injury time penalty, but returned to the action after receiving treatment and assuring that he wasn't in pain.
However, just five minutes later, the defender went down again and was replaced by Andreas Christensen, raising fears that he had suffered a serious injury, such as a torn cruciate knee ligament.
Barca coach Xavi Hernandez seemingly ruled that out when he said after the game that the injury "doesn't appear to be serious," and although Cancelo has still to undergo tests, it looks as if he has suffered a twisted knee, rather than a season-ending torn ligament.
Nevertheless, a twisted knee is likely to sideline Cancelo for at least two weeks and probably more, meaning he will miss out this weekend and next week, as well as the fourth round of the Cup if Barca qualifies and the league visit to play Betis on January 21.
Barcelona already has a long injury list, with Pedri, Marc Andre ter Stegen, Gavi, Marcos Alonso and Inigo Martinez all on the sidelines, although Martinez is close to completing his recovery from a hamstring problem. ■
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