Mascherano ruled out of Barca’s Liga opener

Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano has been ruled out of his side’s La Liga opener against Real Betis due to a hamstring strain.

The Argentina international suffered the injury during Barca’s Supercopa de Espana success against Sevilla on Wednesday.

Mascherano came off to leave his team, who had used all three substitutes, to finish with 10 men.

Arda Turan’s brace and a Lionel Messi goal saw Barca cruise to a 3-0 victory at Camp Nou, completing a 5-0 aggregate win.

The club confirmed Mascherano would miss a week, ensuring he will miss Saturday’s clash with Betis.

However, he is likely to be fit and available for the trip to Athletic Bilbao on August 28.

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