FC Barcelona Star Hit With New Three Week Injury Blow Pre-Espanyol

An FC Barcelona first team star has been hit with a fresh three week injury setback as confirmed by his head coach Hansi Flick.

Eric Garcia wanted to leave the Catalans in the summer in search of more minutes, yet Flick put his foot down and insisted that the former La Masia charge stuck around.

Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez have central defence locked down as things stand, catching Real Madrid offside 12 times in El Clasico and helping notch a resounding 0-4 win in El Clasico last time out, but Eric still provides his boss with other options in defensive midfield.

Barca has a busy 12 days coming up, with three games across them starting with Sunday's hosting of Espanyol in a Montjuic derby.

An away trip to Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League follows on Wednesday before Flick's men go on the road again the following Saturday to a Real Sociedad outfit that is reportedly interested in buying Eric.

Flick was tight-lipped on whether he will make rotations that have been expected of him. But he did comment regarding Eric and revealed that the former Manchester City player will be out for at least another three weeks.

"I think he will return after the international break," Flick said when asked about the number 24, who was also seen missing from training before his manager's prematch press conference where the German showed a preference for suspending the match against Espanyol.

MORE FOR YOU
FBI Warns Gmail, Outlook, AOL, Yahoo Users—Hackers Gain Access To Accounts
Netflix’s Best Returning Show Arrives With High Critic Scores For Season 2
‘Cataclysmic Collapse’—Tesla Billionaire Elon Musk’s Radical $35.7 Trillion Plan To Avert ‘Financial Emergency’ Spurs Huge Bitcoin Price Bets

"He's had problems and we had to decide that he should train outside the group," Flick added.

Barca returns to action after said break on November 23 when it takes on Celta Vigo in Galicia.

Eric might finally be ready then, and recovered from discomfort in the abductor of his right leg picked up when Barca beat Sevilla 5-1 on October 20.

With Eric unavailable, it is likely that Frenkie de Jong will start versus Espanyol after his impressive 45 minutes in the Bernabeu against Madrid.

The Dutchman could partner Pedri in front of a mightily impressive Marc Casado, or take Casado's place as a pivot.

One thing is for sure, both Casado and Pedri will probably be rested at some point considering they've played pretty much everything for Flick as of late including a 4-1 thrashing Bayern Munich in the Champions League last week.