Barcelona captain Carles Puyol has been ruled out of Tuesday's Champions League clash with Arsenal.
Barca captain fails to recover from knee injury
Barcelona captain Carles Puyol has been ruled out of Tuesday's UEFA Champions League clash with Arsenal.
The 32-year-old centre-half has been missing since the middle of January with a knee injury and will be forced to watch the Camp Nou tie from the sidelines.
Barca stalwart Puyol has been able to train in recent days but the knee problem has not sufficiently diminished to allow him to play a part against the Gunners.
Arsene Wenger's men take a 2-1 lead to Spain for the last 16 encounter, having been dumped out of the competition by the Catalans last season.
It leaves Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola with a big selection dilemma as fellow centre-back Gerard Pique is suspended for the game.
Guardiola may opt to pair Eric Abidal and Sergio Busquets in central defence, while Arsenal are also dealing with severe injury problems.
Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie have been ruled out while Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song both face a race to be fit.
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