The Barcelona defender left the Spain camp on Sunday and will return to his club for further assessment, the Spanish federation confirmed, after tests on the left knee that had cost him a place in the starting eleven against England the previous evening.

Spain won that game 3-1 at Wembley, their opening fixture of the UEFA Nations League A group stage. García had been named in Luis de la Fuente’s XI, but felt the knee during warm-ups. Atlético Madrid full-back Marc Pubill stepped in, with the federation announcing simply that “Marc Pubill will take Eric García’s place due to discomfort in his left knee.”

Speaking to reporters after the match, De la Fuente sought to play the injury down.

“He’s had a minor issue, it doesn’t look serious. We’ll assess whether he can recover once we get back to Madrid, but only if there is absolutely no risk to the player,” he told Spanish reporters.

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He was less definitive about García’s availability going forward.

“Right now, it doesn’t appear to be anything grave, but we don’t know if he’ll be available for the upcoming matches. If not, we’ll consider bringing in another teammate,” he added.

By Sunday, that call had been made. Le Normand, an Atlético Madrid center-back, was drafted in to complete the squad for the Croatia game on Tuesday, 29 September.

Fresh headache for Flick

For Barcelona, the news is unwelcome. García has been a regular in Hansi Flick’s back line this season, filling in at right-back, and joins Andreas Christensen on the treatment table. No recovery timeline has been given.

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Spain’s second Nations League A group match kicks off against Croatia on Tuesday.

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