Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta will miss the next four games after picking up an injury, reports in Spain have confirmed.

The Spaniard was forced off in the 72nd minute of Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Real Madrid after straining his right calf.

Barcelona had to wait until Sunday to hear the full extent of the injury and a medical test confirmed muscle damage.

Spanish newspaper AS claims Iniesta will need approximately three weeks to recover from the injury, ruling him out of up to four fixtures.

Barcelona have a Catalan Supercup game against Espanyol on Wednesday and face Luis Enrique’s old club Celta Vigo in La Liga on Saturday.

The Catalan giants then return to European action with a Champions League tie against Ajax before a La Liga trip to Almeria no November 8.

“How the injury develops will determine when he’ll be able to return to training with the group,” Barca said on their website on Sunday.

Iniesta, meanwhile, has said he is looking forward to returning to action as soon as possible.

“I start my recovery to be ready as soon as possible with the team,” the 30-year-old wrote on Twitter.

Barcelona were disappointing in El Clasico but are priced at 1.13 to return to winning ways against Celta Vigo this weekend, while the visitors are 19.34 to win at Camp Nou.