Iniesa hamstring injury leave him in race against time to be fit for Champions League

   MADRID, March 5 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta faces a race against time to be fit for his side's Champions League last 16 return leg at home to Chelsea after suffering a muscle injury on Sunday.

  Iniesta was forced out of Barca's vital 1-0 win at home to Atletico Madrid with a hamstring injury in his right leg and cut an unhappy figure in the dugout afterwards.

  Although the club has yet to give official news on the extent of the injury, the normal recovery for a slight hamstring injury is usually at least 3 weeks; well past the March 14th date for the game against Chelsea in the Camp Nou Stadium where Barca have the advantage after a 1-1 draw in the away leg in London.

   Sources in the Spanish press assure that the 33-year-old will do everything possible to recover in time, but with just nine days before the game and Iniesta having a long history of muscle problems, the most likely thing is he will have to watch from the stands and Barca coach Ernesto Valverde will have to find a replacement, a task made more difficult because recent signing Phillipe Coutinho is cup-tied after playing for Liverpool in the competition already this season.  Enditem