MADRID, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona have confirmed that their Brazilian winger Malcom will be out of action for a fortnight with a twisted right ankle he suffered while playing against Cultural Leonesa in the Copa del Rey.
The injury is much less serious than originally feared when the winger had to leave Wednesday night's match in tears and in obvious distress.
He had enjoyed a good performance in the game and scored the third goal of the night in the match that his side won 4-1 to reach the last 16 of the Spanish knockout tournament with a 5-1 aggregate score.
The injury means Malcom will miss Liga Santander matches away to Espanyol and Levante and next week's Champions League match at home to Tottenham, although Barca are already assured of finishing as winners of their group in that competition.
In theory he could be fit for Barca's last league game of the year at home to Celta on December 22nd, although the club could decide to rest him for the trip to face Getafe at the start of 2019.
It took Malcom a long time to adapt to his new club after joining Barca from Bordeaux in the summer, and his adaptation wasn't helped by another ankle injury in pre-season, but he had begun to impress and show himself as an alternative to players such as Phillipe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and Rafinha, who is now out until the end of the season with a knee injury.
