Barcelona will be without Andres Iniesta for their Champions League semi-final first leg against Real Madrid on Wednesday.


Pep Guardiola confirmed at his pre-match press conference that Iniesta - who escaped a UEFA suspension after being accused of picking up a deliberate booking against Shakhtar Donetsk - will take no part in the game at the Bernabeu due to a calf injury.

Iniesta did not train on Monday and was forced out after only ten minutes of Tuesday's session, and Guardiola said: "Iniesta is 100% out."

He added that he did not know who would replace the midfielder but joked: "Someone will play."

It is a significant blow for Barca, who already had an injury crisis at left-back with Eric Abidal, Adriano and Maxwell all out, while striker Bojan Krkic could miss the rest of the season and Carles Puyol and Gabriel Milito have both been struggling.

Puyol and Milito, though, both came through Tuesday's training session with no problems.

source: http://www.deluxefootball.net/caption_news.php?idx=iniesta-ruled-out-of-real-madrid-clash&cdr=OTk5NTM0MDI3MTcyNA==