Veteran Barcelona captain Carles Puyol will miss Tuesday's Champions League showdown at home to Arsenal, the Spanish champions said on Sunday.
Defender Puyol, 32, has not recovered from the tendinitis in his left knee that has kept him out of action for six weeks.
Barca were hoping that Puyol would be fit, especially because Gerard Pique, his usual partner for Barca and Spain, is suspended for the big match.
Barca coach Pep Guardiola - who is suffering from a slipped disc but will be on the bench on Tuesday - will have to improvise a new central defensive tandem. He is likely to put midfielder Sergio Busquets back in defence alongside left-back Eric Abidal.
This would mean putting Javier Mascherano in midfield in place of Busquets, and either Maxwell or Adriano at left-back in place of Abidal.
The other option for Guardiola is to draft in either Marc Bartra or Albert Fontas, the young central defenders of Barca's second division nursery team.
The good news for Barca is goalkeeper Victor Valdes is fit, after making a successful return from injury in Saturday's 1-0 home defeat of Zaragoza.
Barca, one of the favourites in the tournament, lost the first leg 2-1 against Arsenal in London and therefore need to win on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals.
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