Barcelona's Andreas Christensen is expected to be out for a month due to an Achilles tendon injury

Barcelona's Andreas Christensen is expected to be out for a month due to an injury to his left Achilles tendon.

The defender was surprisingly absent from Barcelona's squad for Saturday's match against Athletic Bilbao, with the club later confirming that he “has tendinitis in his left Achilles tendon. When he can return to training will depend on his progress.”

Christensen, 28, came on as a substitute in Barcelona's first La Liga game against Valencia last weekend, playing as a defensive midfielder again in the 2-1 away win, something he did several times last season.

Christensen played 42 times for Barcelona last season after joining on a free transfer from Chelsea in the summer of 2022. He started all four of Denmark's games at the European Championships in Germany and his team reached the round of 16.

Due to his injury, he will miss Denmark's matches in September as well as the Nations League games against Switzerland and Serbia.

Meanwhile, new signing Dani Olmo has been named in the squad for the match against Athletic, even though he is not yet registered in La Liga.

Olmo moved from RB Leipzig to Barcelona in the summer for 60 million euros, but the Spaniards have so far failed to meet La Liga's salary cap in order to sign the 26-year-old.

Head coach Hansi Flick said yesterday he “hopes” Olmo will be registered in time for the game against Athletic after missing against Valencia last week. Barcelona have announced their squad for today's game, but with an asterisk next to Olmo's name, meaning he is “subject to his registration in La Liga”.

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(Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)