Suarez out 4 weeks with knee injury

Luis Suarez will spend four weeks on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury in Barcelona's comprehensive 5-1 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old forward picked up the problem in the second half of the 2-0 second-leg loss at the Bernabeu, and is set to miss La Liga matches against Real Betis, Alaves, and Espanyol, and perhaps the trip to Getafe on Sept. 16.

The Uruguayan's injury leaves Ernesto Valverde's frontline gutted ahead of his side's season opener on Sunday. The Blaugrana's famed South American triumvirate was already broken up by Neymar's world-record €222-million transfer to Paris Saint-Germain earlier in August, but now Lionel Messi is its sole representative as the club tries to topple hated rival Real Madrid from its perch atop the domestic and continental game.

The pressure to complete deals for Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho and Borussia Dortmund's Ousmane Dembele - moves general manager Pep Segura insists are "close" - is now ramped up. This summer's signings of Paulinho, Nelson Semedo, Gerard Deulofeu, and Marlon haven't exactly filled the club's support with confidence before the weekend's kick-off, and fans are demanding some marquee buys in the final two weeks of the transfer window.

Suarez's setback is also a damaging blow to Uruguay's bid to reach the 2018 World Cup in Russia. La Celeste faces tricky tests against Argentina on Aug. 31 and in Paraguay on Sept. 5 in the tumultuous world of CONMEBOL qualifiers. Argentina is just one point behind Uruguay in fifth place, the standing which requires a play-off against Oceanic opposition to determine who advances to the international showpiece.