Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann faces a race against time to be fit for the Champions League showdown with Manchester United.
Having picked up a muscle injury against Real Madrid in December, the Frenchman has featured once since and he suffered a recurrence of the problem.
It had been expected that he would come back into contention as the Spanish champions headed into February.
However, the 30-year-old was omitted from the squad to play Barcelona this afternoon.
Of course, the World Cup winner is on loan from the Catalan giants - but under the terms of his agreement would have been eligible to feature if he had been passed fit.
Indeed, he was handed an 18-minute cameo against his parent club earlier on in the season.
Since his last start on December 12, the 102-cap international has played only 34 minutes in the Copa del Rey and Griezmann is running out of time to prove his fitness before the first leg of the last-16 game with United - which is set to take place at the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday, February 23.
The return leg is scheduled for Tuesday, March 15 at Old Trafford. Both games kick-off at 8pm.
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A previous report from Spanish publication AS stated: "Nobody wants him [Griezmann] to relapse, again, and have more problems, so his return could be for the next league day [against Barcelona]. United awaits in the Champions League on the 23rd, it is match marked in red on the Atletico calendar, and that match marks the calendar not only of Griezmann but of the whole team."
Griezmann has missed his first target in that regard - having scored eight goals in 22 games this season.
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