Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano has been ruled out for up to two weeks after suffering a thigh strain in Tuesday's 4-1 win over Real Sociedad in La Liga.

The 29-year-old sustained the knock in a clash with teammate Sergio Busquets and it is believed that the impact of the challenge caused the Argentine to stretch in an unnatural manner.

He was substituted in the first period, but it had initially been thought that he would return for the league meeting with Almeria at the weekend.

However, subsequent tests have confirmed that the strain will take between 10 and 15 days to recover.