Sergio Busquets Injury: Updates on Barcelona Star's Ankle and Return

Sergio Busquets was stretchered off in the first half of Barcelona's Copa del Rey clash with Villarreal on Mar. 4 with an ankle injury. He remains a major doubt for the forthcoming Clasico fixture against Real Madrid, which is to be played on Mar. 22.

Continue for updates.

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Busquets Returns to Training

Thursday, March 19

Barcelona fans welcomed the sight of Busquets training with the rest of the first team three days before Sunday's Clasico, as reported by ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan, but there remains no confirmation that he will be fit to play.

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Enrique 'Not Talking' About Clasico

Tuesday, March 17

Barca boss Luis Enrique confirmed Busquets would miss the side's Champions League round of 16 second leg tie with Manchester City, but wouldn't speculate on Sunday's Clasico, per Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC:  

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Busquets Expected to Miss Clasico, Return in April

Friday, March 13

Barcelona supporters will be hoping Busquets can appear in the vital match, but Barca's doctors suggest he isn't going to recover in time, reported by Santi Gimenez of AS:

"

Those estimates (of recovering before the Clasico) were too optimistic and as of today (Friday), the doctors are pessimistic about the prospect of the player re-appearing within 15 days.

[...] The Barca midfielder’s injury, according to the experts, rarely heals in less than 25 days, depending on each case.

"

A 25-day injury would of course rule Busquets out until April. 

David Amoyal, writing on behalf of Sky Italia's Gianluca Di Marzio on Mar. 5, previously suggested this would be the case. He believes Busquets "will miss at least four weeks."

Enrique spoke after the side's win over Villarreal, saying that Busquets' injury is "the only bad news," per the club's official website. "We know he'll be out a few days; we'll see how many, though."

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Busquets Injures Ankle Against Villarreal

Wednesday, March 4 

Official confirmation is yet to confirm exactly how long Busquets will miss although, as ESPN FC notes, his problem certainly looked worrying.

He picked up the injury under a heavy tackle from Tomas Pina. Eurosport provided an image of the point of impact:

FCB, a fan, provided video of the incident:

"

La lesión de BUSQUETS @SomosCule @FCBfanatics https://t.co/jABbLdhO1d

— FCB (@nogolipo) March 4, 2015"

Later in the match, FCB provided a photo of Busquets on the bench:

"

Busquets en el banquillo pic.twitter.com/VArQtwBmKr

— FCB (@Emenderk) March 4, 2015"

Jeremy Mathieu replaced Busquets with the score at 1-1. Barca went on to win the match 3-1, securing a place in the Copa Del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao with a 6-2 aggregate score over Marcelino's side.