Alves: Barcelona fullback Dani Alves has been ruled out with a hamstring strain for 15 to 20 days, the La Liga leaders said yesterday. The Brazil international, who has had an injury-interrupted start to the campaign, had to be substituted in the first half of Barca’s 4-0 victory at Levante on Sunday. He could miss up to six matches between La Liga, the Champions League and the King’s Cup.

Pochettino: Espanyol yesterday sacked coach Mauricio Pochettino after a miserable run of form which has left them at the bottom of the Primera Division. The Barcelona-based club’s board are reported to have taken the decision this morning, a day after their 2-0 defeat at home to Getafe. Espanyol have won just two of their opening 13 league games and are a point adrift at the foot.

Vlaar: Aston Villa captain Ron Vlaar is an injury doubt for today’s Premier League bottom-three clash with Reading at Villa Park. The defender suffered a calf injury during Saturday’s home goalless draw against Arsenal and was substituted early in the second half. If he is ruled out, then Matt Lowton is likely to partner Ciaran Clark at the heart of the defence.

Van Der Vaart: Hamburg will be without playmaker Rafael van der Vaart for at least three weeks after the Dutch international tore a muscle in their 2-0 defeat by Fortuna Dusseldorf.Van der Vaart has helped lift the northern club off bottom spot in the Bundesliga and back in the hunt for a Euro place.

S. Donetsk: Shakhtar Donetsk’s president has rebuked his side over a controversial goal scored by Luiz Adriano in a Champions League game at Nordsjaelland. UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Shakhtar after Adriano’s goal following an uncontested bounce ball by the referee. “I would like to make it clear that everyone associated with our club is deeply disappointed with the incident which occurred during the Champions League match,” said Shakhtar’s chief Rinat Akhmetov.

Primera Liga: R. Zaragoza vs Celta Vigo 0-1.