Official: Barcelona star ruled out with long-term injury

Official: Barcelona star ruled out with long-term injuryLa Liga giants Barcelona will be forced to make do without the contributions of a member of the club’s defensive ranks for the best part of the next two months.The player in question? Xavi Espart.Youngster Espart for his part featured from the off on Sunday night, as Barcelona welcomed arch rivals Real Madrid to Catalunya’s capital for a La Liga clash.En route to an eventual 2-1 defeat for the Blaugrana, however, the versatile full-back was forced to limp out of proceedings during the first-half.After attempting to run off ankle damage suffered in a collision with Aurélien Tchouaméni, the 19-year-old ultimately succumbed to the problem, replaced by Alejandro Balde.And as alluded to above, 24 hours on, the extent of Espart’s injury has been revealed. As per a statement across Barcelona’s social media platforms:‘Tests carried out have confirmed that Xavi Espart is suffering from an injury to the syndesmosis joint in his right ankle due to a collision with an opposing player in the game against Real Madrid.‘The player will be out for around seven weeks.’Conor Laird – GSFN