As and Marca already started to salivate at the beginning of an impending Barcelona collapse.   Barca captain Carles Puyol will be out for ten days as he suffered a slight muscle tear in his left thigh.

According to sources, Puyol will be out for Barcelona’s next three matches against Racing, Sporting Gijón, and the first leg of the Copa del Rey semis against Mallorca.

Puyol could be replaced by either Uruguayan Martín Cáceres or Mexican international Rafa Márquez.  Márquez was supposed to be a question mark for the next few weeks, which would have forced him to see the upcoming US-Mexico match from the sidelines with a calf strain. He has recovered quite well and will be most likely partner up with Gerard Piqué in the middle of the blaugrana backline and will also be at Sven-Göran Eriksson’s disposal on February 11th.