Barca's Villa ruled out of Malaga clash

Barcelona's David Villa has been ruled out of the La Liga encounter at Malaga through injury.

The Spain striker, who scored twice in the 5-0 midweek Copa del Rey win over Cordoba, picked up a hamstring injury in training on Saturday and has been withdrawn from the squad.

Villa was also forced off in the 77th minute of Thursday's cup tie with a leg injury and Barca say it is too soon to tell how long Saturday's latest setback will keep him on the sidelines.

"The striker noticed discomfort during training this afternoon [Saturday] and, after testing, has been shown to have a hamstring elongation and will not play in Malaga," read a statement on fcbarcelona.es.

"(The injury's) evolution will decide his availability for the next games, as determined by the club's medical services."