Barcelona captain Carles Puyol will be out of action for up to seven weeks after undergoing knee surgery on Thursday.
The Spain international will therefore miss both legs of Barcelona's Champions League quarter-final clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
Puyol came on as a substitute during his side's emphatic 4-0 victory against AC Milan on Tuesday but later complained of discomfort.
As a result the 34-year-old was omitted from Vicente Del Bosque's Spain squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers with France and Finland announced later that week.
The Catalan club would not provide a return date for Puyol, stating rather that his comeback "will be determined by the progress of his recovery."
The severity of the injury is set to be discussed at a news conference scheduled this weekend by the surgeons who performed the surgery.
Puyol experienced problems with his knee in May last year that kept him out for a significant spell.