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Sergio Busquets has been ruled out of Barcelona's Champions League round-of-16 second leg against Manchester City at the Camp Nou on Wednesday, raising the possibility of Javier Mascherano playing in midfield. Busquets, 26, played a key role in Barca's 2-1 first-leg win at the Etihad Stadium, but then suffered an ankle ligament injury in the Copa del Rey return game win at Villarreal on March 4. The Spain international has been undergoing intense recovery work since but has yet to return to training with his teammates, and now looks a serious doubt for Sunday's La Liga Clasico against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou. At Tuesday's pregame news conference, Blaugrana coach Luis Enrique had played down Busquets' chances of making the City game, while refusing to talk at all about the Clasico. The Barca coach did however appear to go along with a reporter's suggestion that Mascherano would start in midfield on Wednesday night, meaning Jeremy Mathieu would likely slot in alongside Gerard Pique in the middle of Barca's back four. Busquets' absence was confirmed in a club statement announcing the squad for the City game, with right-backs Martin Montoya and Douglas, and third choice goalkeeper Jordi Masip, also not making the cut. The Catalan club confirmed in February that Busquets has agreed to sign a contract extension until 2019.
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