Barcelona Star Forward Luis Suarez Out for 4 Weeks With Knee Injury

Luis Suarez is facing up to a month on the sidelines after he suffered a knee strain during Barcelona's Spanish Super Cup defeat to bitter rivals Real Madrid.

Luis Suarez is facing up to a month on the sidelines after he suffered a knee strain during Barcelona's Spanish Super Cup defeat to bitter rivals Real Madrid.

Barcelona has confirmed that the striker will be absent for up to four weeks after he sustained the problem during the 2-0 second leg loss at the hands of Los Blancos.

Suarez picked up the knock in the final stages of that game at Santiago Bernabeu and, after tests were run to identify the severity of the problem, the prognosis does not look good in the immediate term.

Comunicado de la Sanidad de la AUF. Luis Suárez lesionado.https://t.co/WrMh42ym9Z pic.twitter.com/VDJsYrX5gk

— Selección Uruguaya (@Uruguay) August 17, 2017

#FCBlive Injury update on Luis Suárez and Piqué. The Uruguayan will be out for 4 weeks https://t.co/hHu075uBL9

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 17, 2017

The 30-year-old forward completed the full 90 minute run out against Zinedine Zidane's men, but was evidently struggling to compete after Barca boss Ernesto Valverde had made all three of his available substitutes before the 78th minute mark.

La Blaugrana will certainly reveal the full extent of Suarez's injury in an official capacity in the coming hours or days, but his absence will be keenly felt by the Catalan giants ahead of the 2017/18 La Liga season kicking off on Saturday.

Barcelona take on Real Betis on the opening day at the Nou Camp on Sunday 20th August, and will also face a trip to Alaves six days later before the first international break of this term - matches that Suarez will definitely sit out for the senior Uruguayan national side.

Valverde's team will then reconvene for a 9th September clash against Espanyol before their first Champions League game of the campaign, but question marks remain as to whether Suarez will be fit enough to feature so soon.

Fellow marksman Paco Alcacer will most likely be the obvious replacement for Saurez as the main striker in Valverde's front three, unless the Basque boss opts to push Lionel Messi into the centre and drafts in either Arda Turan or Munir El Haddadi to play out wide.