Barcelona will be without the world’s best player for three weeks, after Lionel Messi suffered a groin injury against Atletico Madrid in a La Liga fixture on Wednesday evening.
Advertisement
“As such, Barça will be without the best player in the world for the three games that the blaugranes have before the next break for global fixtures: league games against Sporting Gijon and Celta Vigo and the game against Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League”.
Ivan Rakitic gave Barcelona the lead with a fine glancing header on 41 minutes, but both Messi and Sergio Busquets were forced off with injuries after the break, with Barcelona confirming after the game that Messi would be out for three weeks with a groin strain. However, he should be fit in time for a reunion with old boss Pep Guardiola when Manchester City visit the Camp Nou on Champions League duty on October 19.
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 global duty this month.
The result at Camp Nou, combined with the earlier 1-1 draw between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Bernabeu, means the Blancos remain atop La Liga with 13 points.
“We have a chance to enjoy an impressive player like Griezmann, who also works hard defensively”, explained the Argentine. “With Leo we are much stronger, but without him we are still a strong team”.
Advertisement
‘In the first half, we defended well, but we could not counter-attack. It’s hard to face a team that plays with 11 defenders and that blocks all the spaces.
