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Suarez forced off with injury in Barcelona's La Liga opener versus Athletic
The Uruguayan had to be replaced by Rafinha after looking to hurt his right calf in the first half at San Mames
Luis Suarez was forced off in the first half of Barcelona's La Liga opener against Athletic Bilbao with an apparent right calf injury.
The Uruguayan striker looked to suffer the injury when taking a shot that cannoned back off the post. After he was treated on the field, Suarez was ultimately unable to continue and was taken off in the 37th minute, replaced by Rafinha.
Barcelona released a statement during the match saying that Suarez would undergo scans on Saturday to determine the extent of the injury.
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New signing Antoine Griezmann moved up front to fill the gap left by Suarez, with Rafinha taking up a place on the flank, but those changes were unable to produce any goals for the away side.
Barcelona ultimately fell to a 1-0 defeat at the San Mames thanks to an incredible scissor-kick winner from substitute Aritz Aduriz in the 89th minute.
This is the first time Suarez has been taken off in the first half of a La Liga game since he joined the Catalan giants from Liverpool in 2014.
With Philippe Coutinho closing in on a loan move to Bayern Munich, Barcelona may be forced to step up their pursuit of former winger Neymar if Suarez is out for any length of time.
The striker joins Barca captain Lionel Messi on the sidelines, with the Argentine superstar also missing from the squad with a calf injury of his own sustained in pre-season.
The injury means Barcelona's two top scorers last season - by some distance - are both out and the goalscoring burden will now fall on Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele, who will have replace a duo who scored a total of 76 goals across all competitions last season (51 for Messi, 25 for Suarez).
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Dembele was the third highest scorer with 14, although Griezmann did net 21 in all competitions last term, with 15 in La Liga.
It temporarily eases the selection headache that Ernesto Valverde was facing, with the Barca manager needing to fit Messi, Griezmann, Suarez and Dembele into a front three in his preferred 4-3-3 formation.
Next up for Barcelona is a La Liga match against Real Betis next Sunday, before the defending champions take on Osasuna the following weekend.
