Messi had just pulled a muscle in Barcelona‘s 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou on Wednesday, and tests showed he will be sidelined for three weeks with a groin strain.
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While Iniesta and Rakitic are expected to start on Saturday as well, Busquets was forced off early into the second half due to injury and it looks like Andre Gomes will be replacing the Spanish worldwide in the starting lineup this weekend.
LUIS ENRIQUE, Barcelona manager, on Lionel Messi’s injury absence.
“Barcelona always sends us messages saying that we must take care of Messi, but they don’t take care of him very well”, Bauza told Fox.
The Argentina star was forced off just before the hour-mark after failing to shake off the effects of a tangling with Diego Godin, with initial reports suggesting he may have sustained a recurrence of the groin injury he suffered on worldwide duty this month.
Neither side was able to find a victor and close the gap on La Liga leaders Real Madrid, who had played out a 1-1 draw with Villarreal earlier in the evening.
Barca remain three points behind Madrid at the top of La Liga after Angel Correa’s equalizer seconds after Messi limped off handed Atletico a share of the spoils at the Camp Nou.
He added: “Now we have to look for other solutions”.
“Last year we had an unfortunate situation with a longer-term injury and my team played well”.
FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, centre, in action against Atletico Madrid. “Of course we are stronger with Messi, but we are still strong enough”.
Barca had 29 minutes to find a victor without Messi, and despite chances for Pique and Neymar, Atletico held firm.
A knee injury kept Messi out for two months last season but Luis Suarez and Neymar picked up the slack for the Catalan giants, scoring 20 of Barca’s 23 goals.
Although the injury leaves Barcelona facing the hard task of playing without the star midfielder, it has no need to panic.
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At the Bernabeu, the European champions were looking to surpass the Liga mark of 16 wins first set by Pep Guardiola s Barcelona in 2010/11, but were made to pay for a sluggish first-half display.
