Barcelona's Gerard Pique ruled out of Valencia clash - report

Sep 19, 2011 

The towering defender is still recovering from a hamstring injury and the Catalans will not take any risks in the upcoming La Liga game

Barcelona have received disappointing news from the treatment table as they will have to make do without the services of defender Gerard Pique in Wednesday's La Liga match away against Valencia, Sport reports.

The centre-back sustained a hamstring injury ahead of the European Supercup victory against Porto back in August and was initially expected to be out of action for approximately three weeks.

However, Pique's recovery process has not quite gone according to plan, and the 24-year-old has now been out of action for almost a full month.

Barcelona were hopeful that the defender would be able to make his comeback in this week's league game against Valencia, but Pique is not ready just yet and will not be included in the match squad for Wednesday's encounter.

Pique has now set his sights on a return to match action in the home fixture against Atletico Madrid on September 24.