Pique to miss Barcelona´s Leganes trip over personal matter

Gerard Pique will miss Barcelona’s trip to Leganes over a “personal matter”, the LaLiga leaders have confirmed.

The Spain international’s absence at Butarque compounds the loss of Javier Mascherano, who is expected to miss the next month with a hamstring issue.

Coach Ernesto Valverde is likely to pair Samuel Umtiti with Thomas Vermaelen at the back, but also talked up his B team defenders when discussing his lack of interest in signing a new defender during Friday’s pre-match news conference.

Aleix Vidal has been passed fit for the fixture after recovering from a long-term ankle injury and returning to training during the international break.