Soccer-Espart ruled out for seven weeks as Barca lose another defender to injury

Soccer Football - LaLiga - FC Barcelona v Real Madrid - Spotify Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain - October 25, 2026 FC Barcelona's Xavi Espart in action with Real Madrid's Yan Diomande REUTERS/Albert Gea

Oct 26 (Reuters) - ⁠Barcelona full-back Xavi Espart will ⁠be out for around seven ‌weeks with a right ankle injury suffered in the 2-1 home loss to Real ​Madrid in LaLiga ⁠on Sunday, the ⁠club said in a statement.

• Espart ⁠was replaced ‌by Alejandro Balde in the 30th minute.

• ⁠Barca say collision with Real player ​caused injury.

• ‌Espart, 19, has played nine ⁠games for ​the Catalan club this season, with two goals and two ⁠assists.

• Barcelona are already without ​defenders Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde and Eric Garcia due to injury.

• ⁠Joao Cancelo, Balde, Pau Cubarsi and Gerard Martin are theonly available defenders in the squad.

• Injury timeline ​means Espart may ⁠not play again in 2026, with ​Barca's final game ‌this year set for ​December 20.

(Reporting by Ruairidh Barlow; Editing by Ken Ferris)