In two weeks’ time, Barcelona will make the trip to the Santiago Bernabeu for the first El Clasico meeting of the season. Hansi Flick is hoping to have the likes of Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Fermin Lopez back to face Real Madrid, but one player that he will have to do without is starting goalkeeper Joan Garcia.

Garcia damaged his meniscus in the aftermath of Barcelona’s victory at Real Oviedo last month, and he was forced to undergo surgery to rectify the issue. His recovery time was set at 4-6 weeks, and if he was at the lower end of that scale, he would have chances to be available for El Clasico.

Barcelona had been confident that Garcia would be fit enough to travel with his teammates to the Bernabeu, but it will not be the case. As per MD, the player himself has confirmed that he will not return to action until November at the earliest.

“We’ll see how I progress but, for the moment, everything is going well. I will return in a month, more or less.”

Garcia poised for return in late November

If it is the case that Garcia is out for another month, he would not be able to play for Barcelona before the November international break, which starts after their trip to Celta Vigo on Sunday the 9th. He would miss matches against Girona, Olympiacos, Real Madrid, Elche, Club Brugge and Celta, with his return being on for the 23rd for the visit of Athletic Club.

In the meantime, Wojciech Szczesny will continue to deputise in Garcia’s absence. The Polish veteran recently revealed that he did not want to called upon for El Clasico as he had hoped for his fellow goalkeeper to be back from injury in time, although it will not be the case.