Carlos Puyol's injury-plagued season has been halted once more after the Barcelona defender was forced to undergo a knee procedure on Monday afternoon.

The centre-back, who has only recently returned to first-team action following a serious knee injury, was expected to start in Barca's league clash with Athletic Bilbao last weekend.

However, according to AS, the veteran experienced pain on Sunday and therefore was forced to have excess fluid drained from his right knee in Barcelona.

The 35-year-old has made close to 600 first-team appearances for the Catalan outfit.