Knee surgery for Suárez

BARCELONA, Spain (AP):

Barcelona say Uruguay striker Luis Suárez will have surgery today for a right knee injury.

The Spanish club made the announcement yesterday – two days after Suárez played the complete 90 minutes in a 3-2 loss to Atlético Madrid in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup being held in Saudi Arabia.

The 32-year-old Suárez is the club’s fourth all-time leading scorer with 191 goals in 270 matches. He has helped Barcelona win one Champions League, four Spanish league and four Copa del Rey titles.

Barcelona did not say how long they expect to be without their second-leading scorer this season after Lionel Messi. Suárez has 14 goals so far.

He will likely miss several Spanish league and cup matches during a January and February packed with games from the two domestic competitions, including an always demanding trip to Valencia on January 25.

Barcelona play Napoli in the Champions League Round of 16, with the first leg in Italy on February 25 and the second leg at Camp Nou on March 18.