Football
Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent 7y

Barcelona waiting on Gerard Pique, Rafinha fitness ahead of Atletico clash

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique hopes Gerard Pique and Rafinha will be fit for Tuesday's Copa del Rey semifinal second leg against Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou.

Pique was taken off at half-time of Barca's 3-0 La Liga win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and the club have since confirmed "he had a thigh injury and was substituted as a precautionary measure."

Rafinha was then withdrawn in the second half after cutting his head open following an unfortunate clash with goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen's knee.

"The problem with Gerard was as a result of playing so many minutes recently and we didn't want to risk him [in the second half]," Luis Enrique said in his postgame news conference.

"I don't know if either of them will be back for Tuesday, that will depend on the medical team and the players themselves, but I hope they are."

Barca are also sweating on the fitness of Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Lucas Digne ahead of the game against Atletico, which they go into with a 2-1 lead from the first leg. All three have returned to training but none were cleared to play in the win against Athletic.

With the Atletico game in mind, Luis Enrique took the chance to make the most of his squad on Saturday, with Luis Suarez among the players left on the bench and Lionel Messi taken off with half an hour remaining.

One of the players who came in, Paco Alcacer, opened the scoring -- with Messi and Aleix Vidal also on target -- and Luis Enrique was happy to see the former Valencia striker bag his first league goal for Barca.

"I'm delighted for Paco," he said. "I'm happy for him because of the type of player he is, but also because of the type of person he is

"I always have special empathy for people that are keen to excel and overcome [any problems] when things suddenly go their way. He scored a good goal, it was a good finish and that's good for the team."

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