Barça hit by Overmars injury

Marc Overmars' season may be over after he was injured during FC Barcelona's defeat in Wednesday's Catalan Cup semi-final.

Torn muscle
Having come on as a 72nd-minute substitute against Terrassa CF, the Dutch defender was replaced by Javier Saviola just three minutes later after sustaining a torn muscle in his left leg while sprinting. He will undergo more tests to ascertain the extent of his injury, but it seems likely that he will be out for at least a month, bringing his season to a premature end.

Crucial games
Playing in his third season as a Barcelona player, Overmars has frequently struggled with injuries, but had recently been in good form for Radomir Antic's side, making regular appearances in the first team. He is now likely to miss Barcelona's crucial final games as they battle for a UEFA Cup place and may also be out of contention for the Netherlands UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying fixture against Belarus on 7 June.

Penalty shoot-out
Overmars' injury put the cap on another disappointing day for Barcelona as their long wait for a title continued with defeat against Terrassa. They lost to the lower league side on penalties following a 1-1 draw to create a repeat of the result of the 2002 Catalan Cup final which the lower league side won in exactly the same way.

Youth opportunities
Antic was forced to field a side which did not include Patrik Andersson and Thiago Motta, who had back problems, or Juan Riquelme who had not recovered from a throat infection. The Serbian manager gave a number of youth team and reserve team players their opportunity but could not secure a win against a Terrassa side who are currently struggling at the wrong end of the Spanish second division.