Confirmed withdrawal!: Eric García will not play until after the break

Eric García will miss his fourth consecutive game with FC Barcelona this Sunday against Espanyol (4:15 p.m.). Hansi Flick himself confirmed the withdrawal of the Martorell player, who has not trained with the squad for two weeks due to muscle problems.

"I think he will return after the national team break. He had problems and we had to decide that he should train outside the group," explained the Barça coach in the preview of Barça-Espanyol.

Eric has not been able to overcome the discomfort in the abductor of his right leg, although last Sunday he had trained normally with the substitutes from the Classic. The coach hoped to have him on Wednesday, but the player suffered from his discomfort and, finally, will spend three weeks in the culé infirmary.

The games that Eric García will miss with Barça

1. FC Barcelona vs Espanyol, in Montjuïc (LaLiga, day 12)
2. Crvena Zvezda vs FC Barcelona, in Belgrade (Champions League, day 4)
3. Real Sociedad vs FC Barcelona, in San Sebastián (LaLiga, day 13)

In this way, after being left out of the duels against Sevilla, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, Martorell's man will not be available for the Catalan derby nor for the duels against Crvena Zvezda (Champions) and Real Sociedad (Liga).

The good news for '24' is that, after the visit to San Sebastián, there will be a FIFA date. This will give the 23-year-old player two weeks off to fully recover, with which he could reappear on Saturday, November 23 in Balaídos, against Cetla.

Apra Eric, the injury to his right leg comes at a very inopportune time, just when Gavi, Fermín López and Frenkie de Jong have returned to action. The defender converted into a pivot will have much more competition to add minutes in the center of the field, although Hansi Flick can take him into account to distribute the loads of the center backs.

And Iñigo Martínez and Pau Cubarsí have been playing everything in the League and Champions League. Hence the return of Ronald Araújo, also expected for the final stretch of November, is considered a real reinforcement. After the return of Andreas Christensen, perhaps at the end of December or beginning of January, García's doors to the Barça eleven may be definitively closed.