Barcelona's Dani Alves Could Face Four Weeks Out With Groin Injury

Barcelona defender Dani Alves could be out for a month after suffering a groin injury in the win over Athletic Bilbao.

The Brazil international was taken off after 19 minutes of the 1-0 victory and underwent tests on Monday which revealed the extent of the damage.

A statement from Barcelona read: “In the case of Dani Alves, the results show that he has a groin strain.”

Alves will miss Brazil’s international friendlies against Costa Rica on September 5 and the United States four days later.

The 32-year-old will also sit out the Primera Division games at home to Malaga on Saturday and away to Atletico Madrid on September 12, with reports in Spain claiming he could be sidelined for around a month.

The good news for Barca coach Luis Enrique is that midfielder Sergio Busquets should be fit for this weekend’s encounter after being substituted in the second half because of injury at San Mames.

“The tests performed on Sergio Busquets reveal that the midfielder has suffered a slight ankle injury but nothing important,” Barcelona said.

Luis Suarez scored the only goal of the game to ensure Barca got their La Liga campaign off to a winning start at Athletic Bilbao.

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