Barça confirms Balde's injury: How many games will the full-back miss?

Tests carried out this Sunday by the FC Barcelona medical team confirmed that Alejandro Balde suffers a distal injury to the biceps femoris muscle of his left thigh. The full-back suffered the muscular mishap in the 38th minute of the match against Leganés (0-1), after a run with Altimira in dispute of a ball. The '3' managed to cut off a promising attack without committing a foul, but ended up hurting his thigh.

Gerard Martín entered in his place, fulfilling in a good way the task of defending the left side and giving a hand to Raphinha to create danger on that wing. For the moment, Barça has not specified Balde's time off, but it is almost certain that he will not travel with the team to Dortmund for the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Borussia, on Tuesday at 21:00.

What matches will Balde miss with Barça?

In that sense, being a muscular injury, everything will depend on the evolution of the defender in the coming days to determine his availability. Álex has accumulated 3,291 minutes of action in 43 games this season, being the defender with the most playing time in the squad, behind the leading player in minutes played for Barça, Jules Koundé. The Frenchman has played practically everything (the team's 48 games), already exceeding the barrier of 4,000 minutes.

In principle, Balde could be a confirmed absence for the Champions League match against Dortmund and, in addition, against Celta next Saturday in Montjuïc (16:15). It remains to be seen if it is a minor injury, as otherwise the left-back will have to rest for at least a couple of weeks. This would lead him to also miss the match of matchday 33 of LaLiga against Mallorca, on Tuesday 22nd at 21:30 in Montjuïc.

Will Balde be able to play in the Copa del Rey final?

Hence, the great uncertainty for now is the presence of Alejandro Balde in the final of the Copa del Rey against Real Madrid. If the time off is two weeks, the '3' would arrive just in time for the clash in La Cartuja, on Saturday 26th at 22:00. Otherwise, if his injury allows for a period close to 21 days, he could hopefully be available for a hypothetical first leg of the 'semi-finals' of the Champions League in the last week of April.