Centre-back Cleber will miss much of the rest of Hamburg's Bundesliga season after injuring his knee in Saturday's Nordderby defeat to Werder Bremen.
The Brazilian defender played all of the 1-0 loss at the Weserstadion but it has since been confirmed he will miss up to three weeks with a tear in his knee.
The injury will likely rule Cleber out of the Bundesliga fixtures with Augsburg, Mainz and Freiburg.
It represents an early blow for new manager Bruno Labbadia, who took over from Peter Knabel last week.
However, Labbadia can count on Johan Djourou again on Saturday against Augsburg following a suspension.
Hamburg sit a point adrift at the bottom having failed to win in the league since early February.