As if it wasn’t already enough with Touré, Alves, Abidal, Chygrynskiy and Keita, all being ruled out due to injury, catalan sports paper Sport now reports that Barcelona’s midfield talisman Xavi Hernandez (29), has suffered an injury during yesterdays loss against Atletico Madrid and will be out of action for two weeks.

After tests on Monday, club doctors have found that Xavi has injured the semitendinous muscle in his right thigh, and will be out for around a fortnight.

Apart from Xavi, club doctors have also tested Seydou Keita’s injury, the midfielder underwent an ultrasound on Monday, and has been diagnosed to have suffered a hamstring injury. This confirms that the Malian will be away from the pitch for three to four weeks.

FC Barcelona midfielder and Malian International Seydou Keita (29), has been ruled out for a month after picking up a hamstring injury in the 2-1 defeat at Atletico Madrid.

Keita suffered the hamstring strain to his right leg early on at the Vicente Calderon and was replaced by Pedro.

Initial estimates from the Barcelona medical staff have indicated that Keita will be out for four weeks.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola now looks set to be without the services of Keita for the Champions League tie with Stuttgart.

Pep Guardiola admitted Barcelona were not at their best after seeing their unbeaten Primera Division record ended by Atletico Madrid, but insisted the credit must go to their opponents.

Barca started the clash at the Vicente Calderon reasonably well but soon found themselves under serious pressure, going 2-0 down inside 23 minutes as well as seeing midfielder Seydou Keita limp off to join an already-lengthy list of absentees.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 27th-minute strike gave Barca some hope, but the reigning champions could find no further in-roads during the remainder of the match as Atletico belied their lowly league position to stun the leaders.

Guardiola, whose side are now two points ahead of Real Madrid at the summit, told a press coference after the match: “My team didn’t play well, although you also have to acknowledge the performance of our opponents. We’ve lacked the control that helps us play our game. We’ve always been a team that ends up creating chances, and today it’s been harder than normal for us due to the great job that Atletico have done.

“They’ve been very well organised and you have to congratulate them on the victory. We weren’t sharp and we were lacking in our play and in our passing.”

Guardiola also refused to blame his side’s defeat on the fact they were missing so many players in defence. Due to injuries and suspension, Guardiola was without the services of Eric Abidal, Dani Alves, Dmitro Chygrynskiy, Rafa Marquez, Gerard Pique and Yaya Toure, and ended up employing young winger Jeffren at right-back.

The early loss of Keita was also a setback and he is set to be out for four weeks with a hamstring problem.

“I don’t want to make excuses because of the injuries, as all teams have absences during the the season. This is happening to us now,” said Guardiola.

LOST…BUT STILL LEADERS

First Barça defeat, which still is two points ahead Madrid.

Everything went wrong: They were scored two goals in 20 minutes and Keita will be out for a month.

Atlético 2 – 1 Barça

[Non Barça Related]

Ronaldo already misses Manchester and doesn’t deny to come back some day.

NO REACTION

Barça’s worst night and the players missing caused the first defeat in la Liga.

The leader didn’t have game to make a comeback after Ibra’s goal in a jinx field.

Keita, four weeks out.

[Non Barça Related]

Espanyol did very well against a weak Depor (Espanyol 2 - 0 Depor)

Madrid. Cristiano: “I miss Manchester”

FC Barcelona e urmărită de ghinion. Duminică seara, formaţia lui Guardiola  a înregistrat prima înfrîngere din actualul sezon în Primera Division (1-2 cu Atletico Madrid), avînd 6 absenţe importante în defensivă. Suspendaţii Pique şi Rafa Marquez şi accidentaţii Alves, Abidal, Chygrynskiy,Toure.

După meciul pierdut în faţa lui Atletico Madrid, pe terenul acesteia din urmă, tehnicianul catalanilor a mai pierdut doi jucători: Keita şi Xavi, primul va sta nu mai puţin de 4 săptămîni, iar al doilea "doar" două. Ambii acuză leziuni musculare.

Mai mult, Sergio Busquets nu va putea evolua contra lui Racing Santander, în meciul următor, fiind suspendat.

În etapa viitoare, revin Pique şi Marquez, care şi-au ispăşit suspendarea venită ca urmare a eliminării din meciul cu Getafe. Dani Alves şi restul accidentaţilor continuă programul de recuperare. Brazilianul s-a antrenat deja în această dimineaţă, însă nu alături de restul colegilor, ci singur.

Víctor Valdés moved level with legendary custodian Salvador Sadurní in third place of the all-time appearance record for goalkeepers in the history of FC Barcelona.

The Catalan shot-stopper played in his 247th game for the Blaugrana in the 2-1 reverse against Atlético de Madrid on Sunday evening in Vicente Calderón. Valdés made his debut against the same opponents back on September 1, 2002 in a 2-2 in Camp Nou.

Zubizarreta and Ramallets

With Valdés and Sadurní on 247 matches, Antoni Ramallets and Andoni Zubizarreta are now the only two above them. Ramallets made 288 appearances for the club while Zubizarreta is out in front with 301 games under his belt.

Zamora twice

During his career at first-team level Valdés has helped Barça to win the league title on three occasions, the Champions League twice, the Copa del Rey three times, the European Super Cup once and the World Club Cup once. He is, therefore, the only keeper in Barça’s history to win the European Cup twice.

In his eight seasons at the top Valdés has won the Trofeo Zamora, for the best keeper in the league, in the 2004-05 and 2008-09 campaigns.

Goalkeepers’ appearance record:

ZUBIZARRETA 301
RAMALLETS 288
VALDÉS 247
SADURNI 247
ARTOLA 188
VELASCO 168
URRUTI 118
NOGUÉS 114
MIGUEL REINA 111
HESP 95

In the post match press conference the players and the president all agreed that Atletico deserved to win the game and that Barcelona didn’t play very well. However, they all recognized that the team is still in first place and aren’t too worried about Real Madrid having pulled within 2 points.

Iniesta

“Losing is never good. We lost a difficult game but we must continue. We didn’t play as well as normal but we gave it our all until the end. Atletico has a great team and is always capable of winning.”

Xavi

“We didn’t play as well as we had been. We were a little imprecise but we had our opportunities to at least draw.” In reference to Real Madrid moving within 2 points he said, “We aren’t worried, we’re still in first place. It’s a small advantage but that’s okay.”

Ibra

“The goal didn’t count for anything because the important thing is to win. I would rather not score and win. It was difficult to come from behind after having conceeded 2 goals in the first 20 minutes but we had our chances to win.”

Laporta

“The team gave it their all and left a good impression. The games against Atletico are always entertaining. I’m sad that we didn’t win but am satisfied with how the team never gave up. We are in the position to still decide our own destiny. Real Madrid has reclaimed 3 points but this was one of those matches where we knew that could happen. We have to keep on working hard. The league is exciting with two teams that make it very competitive and I hope it remains that way until the end.” He went on to say that setbacks are normal and that he sees a healthy team. “We have to overcome these adversities. Morale is high and we want to reiterate that we are still the leaders. We have a considerable advantage. Everytime that we lose in the Vicente Calderon we go on to win La Liga. I hope that will remain true this year.”

Atletico’s win was their third in succession against Barca in the league and capped a fine week that also saw them progress through to the final of the Copa del Rey.

There has not been many bright spots for the capital club this season, but coach Quique Sanchez Flores was delighted with the way his side played tonight, and especially how they nullified the threat of Barca’s all-star attack.

“I’m very pleased with my players. We were united and we stopped the Catalan side from developing their usual play. We were good in attack in the opening 45 minutes, but not so much in the second half,” said Quique at a post-match press conference.

“I wasn’t surprised by their performance. That backline has been playing well in recent matches, but the team hasn’t been winning. We’ve not made changes in those positions in order for them to get to know each other better. I think that’s been fundamental for them.”