Busquets & Abidal ruled out of Bayern clash

The Spain midfielder has failed to recover from the pelvic injury which kept him out of the weekend win over Athletic Bilbao, while the French defender has a calf problem

Barcelona have been dealt a huge blow ahead of their Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich on Wednesday after Sergio Busquets and Eric Abidal were both ruled out through injury.

Coach Tito Vilanova claimed in his press conference on Tuesday that no decision would be taken on Busquets' inclusion in the squad until after training on Wednesday but it seems his hand has been forced early after the Spain midfielder was left out of the matchday squad, along with defender Abidal.

"Sergio Busquets and Eric Abidal will not feature in tomorrow’s match," a statement on the club's official website confirmed.

"The midfielder has not recovered from the [pelvic] injury that kept him from playing against Athletic [Bilbao] this weekend, while the Frenchman has picked up a calf injury."

Barca are already without fellow defenders Javier Mascherano and Carles Puyol ahead of the clash at Camp Nou, while full-back Jordi Alba is suspended after picking up a yellow card in the first leg in Munich.

Bayern hold a 4-0 aggregate lead heading into Wednesday's clash in Catalunya, which kicks off at 19.45BST.

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