Iniesta and Mathieu limp out of Supercopa de Espana

Barcelona were hit by a double injury blow as Jeremy Mathieu and captain Andres Iniesta limped off before half-time in the Supercopa de Espana first-leg clash at Sevilla on Sunday.

French defender Mathieu pulled up with an apparent hamstring strain to make way in the 27th minute of a goalless opening period before Barca boss Luis Enrique suffered a more worrying blow shortly afterwards.

Influential midfielder Iniesta came off worse in a robust challenge with Sevilla defender Mariano and called a halt to his efforts to overcome a heavy blow to his right knee after 36 minutes.

The injuries meant Barcelona debuts for close-season signings Lucas Digne and Denis Saurez.

The break sees it goalless in the Sánchez Pizjuán with Barça having lost Mathieu and Iniesta to injury #FCBlive pic.twitter.com/QjbB9pxU2C

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 14, 2016

The second leg of the Supercopa de Espana takes place at the Camp Nou on Wednesday, with Iniesta and Mathieu now potentially doubts for that match, along with the opening match of Barca’s LaLiga title defence at home to Real Betis next Saturday.