Rival watch: Celta Vigo defender ruled out of Barcelona clash | OneFootball

Barcelona take to the field tonight in perhaps what is their most significant European battle in close to a decade now as they aim to secure a place in the semifinal of the UEFA Champions League.

At the weekend, however, they return to action in La Liga where they will face off against Celta Vigo in a tricky game in an aim to inch closer towards the title.

Hansi Flick is expected to moderately rotate his squad tonight given the significant lead they boast over Borussia Dortmund, thus keeping his men ready for the important league games to come.

A blow for Celta

As relayed by Mundo Deportivo in a recent update, Celta Vigo have suffered a major setback to their plans just ahead of the Barcelona clash which leaves them with a defensive problem.

After all, their defender Carl Starfelt has suffered an elongation to the biceps femoris muscle as clarified by the imaging tests conducted earlier today and will thus be out of action not only against Barcelona but also Villarreal.

Carl Starfelt out of Barcelona game. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

The Swedish international was injured in Celta’s game against Espanyol last Saturday and had to be replaced as early as the 12th minute of the night after his setback.

Needless to say, the manager Claudio Giraldez will not be happy with the timing of the development.

So far this season, Starfelt has made 28 league appearances for the Galician club and averages 81 minutes per game.

In that duration, he has overseen six clean sheets and staggeringly averages over 11 defensive actions per game.

Not having the 29-year-old for possibly the most difficult game of the campaign is undoubtedly a massive blow for the Galician side, although Barcelona will be relieved by the development.