Barcelona suffer double injury blow ahead of La Liga opener as Arsenal target could now miss out on switch

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Barcelona have confirmed that both Andres Iniesta and Jeremy Mathieu face a spell on the sidelines after picking up injuries against Sevilla.

The two sides met in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday night, with Barca coming out 2-0 winners but suffering two costly setbacks.

Iniesta will now be out of action for two weeks with a knee injury, while Mathieu faces three weeks on the sidelines after picking up a hamstring problem, as confirmed on the club’s official site and Twitter page as seen below.

While losing Iniesta will undoubtedly be a blow for Luis Enrique, the setback suffered by Mathieu could well now be a problem for both the Catalan giants and Arsenal.

As noted by Sky Sports, the Gunners have been linked with a move for the French defender, as an alternative to their first choice in Valencia ace Shkodran Mustafi.

However, albeit a short-term spell on the sidelines, it won’t do Mathieu any favours in his bid to either win a place in the Barcelona starting line-up this season or secure a move to north London to address a major issue for Arsene Wenger.

After seeing his side concede four goals at home against Liverpool on Sunday, the Gunners boss will be desperate to now act in the transfer market and bring in a defender.

With other targets on his mind too, it promises to be a busy few weeks for the Frenchman, but ultimately Mathieu could now find himself staying at the Nou Camp, recovering from his injury and battling for a place in Barca’s starting line-up this year.

The La Liga champions have strengthened their backline this summer with the arrivals of Samuel Umtiti and Lucas Digne, and so their injured veteran will now likely fall down the pecking order.

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