Barcelona handed another injury blow ahead of Copa del Rey Clasico | OneFootball

Barcelona will have to face the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final against Real Madrid without centre-back Andreas Christensen after he was injured on international duty.

The Denmark defender started Thursday's victory over Finland but managed less than 20 minutes before limping off with a calf injury with a noticeable look of concern on his face.

According to AS, tests on Christensen's injury have revealed a problem which will rule him out of action for a minimum of three weeks.

Barcelona will return from the international break against Elche on April 1 before welcoming Real Madrid to Camp Nou for the second leg of their cup clash four days later, and they will have to make do without one of their starting defenders.

Xavi is already without both Pedri and Ousmane Dembele, and losing Christensen is another enormous blow to the Blaugrana boss.

Ronaldo Araujo has also been nursing an adductor injury but the Uruguay international is expected to recover in time to face Elche.

Barcelona secured a 1-0 victory over Real in the first leg of the semi-final but Xavi was not impressed with his side's performance and publicly warned the Blaugrana that they would have to improve for the return fixture.

Since then, the two sides have faced off in league action, with Barcelona landing a crushing blow in the La Liga title race with a late winner to move 12 points clear and effectively guarantee the trophy will be returning to Catalonia.

A domestic double is now on the cards and Barcelona will be looking to get one over on their Madrid rivals once again, although Christensen's likely absence will not help their cause.

Marcos Alonso could shift over from left-back, while both Jules Kounde and Eric Garcia are options to replace Christensen.