Barcelona loses Pique, Alba in opening half against Manchester City

Barcelona lost two defenders before the halftime interval of Wednesday's Champions League meeting with former manager Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, with both Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba limping to the bench.

The central defender was struggling for quite some time after a poor challenge from David Silva, and was eventually replaced by Jeremy Mathieu.

Left-back Jordi Alba, meanwhile, was forced to leave the clash within the opening 10 minutes. The Spaniard is apparently still struggling with the thigh problem he picked up during the recent international break.

The energetic Alba, 27, was injured earlier this month in a World Cup qualifier against Italy, and had only recently returned to training in an effort to be fit for the contest at the Camp Nou.

It's a gamble that, in hindsight, looks to have backfired badly.