Barcelona confirm major setback as co-captain suffers calf injury

The La Liga Santander season has only just started, but FC Barcelona is already dealing with a major setback in their first post-Messi campaign. The club has confirmed that deputy captain Gerard Pique has suffered a calf injury, but they have not given details about how long he will be sidelined.

The injury on Pique comes at the heels of the club's announcement that summer arrival Sergio Aguero will be out for at least ten weeks. Now that Lionel Messi has left the club, Pique was the man who was being seen as the leader who will be in the best position to wean the club from the Argentine. Unfortunately, the start of the season will be even more unstable than manager Ronald Koeman had anticipated.

On Sunday, tests confirmed that Pique suffered a calf injury during Barcelona's 1-1 draw against Athletic Club Bilbao at San Mames on Saturday. Pique felt a discomfort in his left leg and was substituted in the 31st minute of the match.

The Blaugrana were not threatening before then, and things became even worse after Pique left the pitch. The hosts took control of the match, and Barcelona were lucky to salvage a point thanks to Memphis Depay's heroics.

34-year-old Pique is now expected to be out for at least two weeks pending further assessment from the club's medical team.

Ronald Araujo came in to replace Pique against Athletic Club, but he and Eric Garcia had a hard time finding their rhythm. The latter picked up a red card in the closing seconds of stoppage time, meaning he will also be missing the next match against Getafe on Sunday.

On a positive note, because Barcelona failed to offload so many players this summer, Koeman will have choices to pick up off his bench. Without Pique and Garcia, the Dutchman will likely go for Araujo and Clement Lenglet as his centre-back pair on Sunday.