Luis Suarez has been ruled out for a month of action after sustaining a knee injury in Wednesday’s Supercopa defeat to Real Madrid.
Barcelona will be without their striker for the weekend La Liga opener against Real Betis while he will also definitely miss the games with Alaves and Espanyol, potentially along with Getafe.
Uruguay had broken the news of the 29-year-old’s absence for “four to five weeks,” ruling him out of his country's important World Cup qualifiers against Argentina and Paraguay.
The Blaugrana, who later confirmed the news, also are likely to be without Andres Iniesta and Thomas Vermaelen for the clash with Betis.
Club captain Iniesta has not trained this week due to a thigh injury while Belgian international Vermaelen has not recovered from injuring his knee during pre-season.
However, Ernesto Valverde’s side are likely to have Gerard Pique available despite fitness concerns.
"Luis Suarez will be out of action for around four weeks," read a club statement.
"Tests carried out on Thursday confirmed that the Uruguayan has a distension in the posterior articular capsule in his right knee picked up in the second half of Wednesday's Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu.
"Further tests carried out on Gerard Pique confirmed that the defender has a groin strain in his left leg and his recovery will dictate his availability for the game against Betis."
Paco Alcacer is likely to take the Uruguayan’s place in the starting line-up for Barca.
