Barcelona boss Xavi has admitted that it is "difficult to predict" how long Ousmane Dembele will be on the sidelines, with a lot depending on "how he feels" during his recovery.
The France international suffered a thigh injury during the first half of Saturday's 1-0 victory over Girona in La Liga, which led to him being withdrawn in the 26th minute of the contest.
"Test this evening on Ousmane Dembele have revealed that he has strained the rectus femoris muscle in his left thigh. It means he is sidelined until the can recover from the injury," read a statement from Barcelona.
The Catalan outfit have not provided a timeframe for his recovery, but various reports have claimed that he could be missing for the next four weeks.
Xavi was asked about the attacker during his press conference to preview Wednesday's La Liga contest with Real Betis, and the Barcelona head coach called his absence "a sensitive loss".
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"We don't know because he has a muscle injury that is difficult to predict. It will depend a lot on how he feels as well," Xavi told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.
"It's a sensitive loss. He was in a moment of extraordinary confidence. He gave us good attacking and defensive work too. It is a difficult loss to recover. We will try not to show it."
If the 25-year-old is absent until the end of February then he will miss seven matches in total, including both legs of the Europa League knockout round playoff clash with Manchester United.
Dembele has been in impressive form for Barcelona during the 2022-23 campaign, scoring eight goals and registering seven assists in 28 appearances in all competitions.
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Xavi's side will be aiming to make it nine wins in a row in all competitions when they make the trip to Seville on Wednesday evening to take on Manuel Pellegrini's Real Betis.
"The match against Betis is important. Pellegrini is a manager who changes his tactics often. He has many talented players in his team who can make a difference," added the Barcelona boss.
"Tomorrow it will be very important to keep possession and continue attacking. Betis can complicate things for us; it is a very difficult match."
Barcelona have three La Liga matches against Real Betis, Sevilla and Villarreal before welcoming Man United to Camp Nou for the first leg of their knockout round Europa League playoff encounter.
Matt Law
