Iniesta diagnosed with hamstring injury

Barcelona confirmed Andres Iniesta suffered a hamstring injury in Sunday's 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid, but is yet to offer a timeline for his return.

The midfielder felt the issue after 20 minutes and lasted a further 14 at Camp Nou before he was replaced by Andres Gomes, and he will be watched closely over the coming days to see how long he will be sidelined for.

"Without Iniesta, we lose a unique player, irreplaceable," manager Ernesto Valverde replied when asked about Iniesta's possible absence. "It's difficult to find a substitute for him because there is no-one like him in the world. Let's hope the injury is nothing serious."

Interested spectators of his recovery will be bottom-placed La Liga side and next Saturday's opponent Malaga, as well as Chelsea, which travels to Spain on March 14 for the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 wrangle. The Blaugrana took a 1-1 draw from Stamford Bridge in the first meeting.