Soccer: Barcelona lose Semedo for five weeks with hamstring injury

By Richard Martin

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Barcelona will be without full back Nelson Semedo until the start of April after the Portuguese was diagnosed with a hamstring injury, the La Liga leaders said in a statement on Sunday.

Semedo, a 30.5-million-euro ($37.49-million) signing from Benfica last July, has been in and out of the team due to competition from Sergi Roberto and made his 11th league start in the 6-1 thrashing of Girona on Saturday but was forced off in the 86th minute.

"The club’s medical services department has confirmed that first-team player Nelson Semedo has suffered an injury to his left hamstring. Further testing carried out has indicated that he will be out for approximately five weeks," said a statement released by Barcelona.

Semedo has been ruled out of the team's next Liga games against Las Palmas, second-placed Atletico Madrid, Malaga and Athletic Bilbao as well as their Champions League last-16 second-leg game with Chelsea on March 14.

($1 = 0.8135 euros)

(Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Clare Fallon)