Barcelona defender Jules Kounde ruled out with sprained knee ligament

Tests have revealed that Kounde has sprained the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee, and the French defender will be unable to play until the injury heals. This also means he will miss out on playing for his country during the international break.

Kounde has played all eleven competitive fixtures for FC Barcelona thus far this season, starting all but one of them and celebrating his 50th appearance with an especially impressive performance against Porto in the Champions League.

Until Sunday, the only other game in which he hadn't been on for the full ninety was the 2-2 draw at Mallorca, when he was substituted for the last few minutes. Against Granada in another 2-2 draw away from home, he picked up the injury and had to come off midway through the first half, when he was replaced by Ronald Araujo.