New blow for Barcelona as Suarez ruled out for a month

Barcelona, Spain | AFP |  Troubled Barcelona were dealt a new blow ahead of the start of the Spanish league season when Luis Suarez was ruled out for a month with a knee injury on Thursday.

The Uruguayan striker suffered the injury in the second half of Wednesday night’s 2-0 defeat away to Real Madrid in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup, although he played on to the end as Barcelona lost 5-1 on aggregate.

“Luis Suarez will be out of action for around four weeks. Tests carried out on Thursday morning confirm that the Uruguayan has a distension in the posterior articular capsule in his right knee picked up in the second half of the Clasico on Wednesday in the Santiago Bernabeu,” said Barcelona in a statement in English published on their website.

The news means Suarez will miss Barcelona’s first three games of the season in La Liga, at home to Betis on Sunday, away to Alaves on August 26 and at home to Espanyol on September 9.

He will also miss Uruguay’s World Cup qualifying ties against Argentina on August 31 and Paraguay on September 5 and is likely to sit out his club’s first Champions League group game on September 12 or 13.

Barcelona also revealed that defender Gerard Pique is a doubt for the meeting with Betis due to a groin strain, meaning further bad news for the Spanish giants whose summer has been overshadowed by the sale of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.

? Some of the best photos from the presentation of @paulinhop8 ? https://t.co/W7TrAubfZX #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/rQx2m7FJdD

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 17, 2017

Football: Barca new boy Paulinho confident despite fan scepticism

Brazil midfielder Paulinho is confident he can make an impression at his new club Barcelona amid scepticism from supporters of the Spanish giants about his signing.

The 29-year-old was presented to media at the Camp Nou on Thursday following a 40 million-euro ($47 million) transfer from the Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande.

The robust Paulinho is the club’s first signing since the sale of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for a world record 222 million euros.

He is not a technical player in the mould of club legends Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta. He was a key element of the Brazil side humiliated on home soil in the 2014 World Cup and left for China two years ago after struggling in his last spell in Europe with Tottenham Hotspur.

All that explains why his arrival has not been warmly received by the Barca fanbase — over 80 percent of supporters urged the club not to sign him for over 20 million euros in a survey conducted by Barcelona sports daily Mundo Deportivo.

But after passing a medical on Thursday he said: “This is a very special moment in my life, in my career. I thank all those for the effort they made to bring me here.

“I am going to try to make up for that by playing well on the field. I come here full of confidence and I will do a good job.”

Paulinho was joined by president Josep Maria Bartomeu, with the club under pressure to strengthen the squad following the loss of Neymar and the comprehensive defeats in both legs of the Spanish Super Cup to bitter rivals Real Madrid.

“He is a player the club were interested in for a long time and we must thank him for the effort he made to come here,” said Bartomeu of Paulinho, who has signed a four-year deal with a 120 million-euro buyout clause.

Paulinho, who will wear the number 15 jersey, is the club’s third summer signing after Gerard Deulofeu was brought back to Barca from Everton and Portuguese right-back Nelson Semedo arrived from Benfica.

Ernesto Valverde’s side begin their La Liga campaign at home to Betis on Sunday evening.