And it has been confirmed by the club’s medical staff that the Argentine captain has torn medial collateral ligament in the left knee.
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Barcelona has lost its best player for quite a while, but the boss does not think it’s the end of the world. Neymar just needs to keep being Neymar; Suarez the same.
Luis Enrique added that he expects his players to make the step up given Messi’s absence. Messi was subbed out in the eighth minute and now he will have to be on the sidelines for around eight weeks.
Messi was injured as he tried to turn the ball home after taking a wonderful first touch inside the area.
Lionel Messi will be back playing in the “shortest possible time” according to Argentina doctor Donato Villani.
His teammates showed their concern after the final whistle of the 2-1 victory over the promoted Las Palmas. Rarely ever does anyone get a clear shot at him and it’s allowed him to stay relatively healthy over his 11-year senior team career with Barcelona.
Known as a durable player unafraid of tough tacklers, Messi was limited by a persistent series of hamstring injuries during 2013, but returned to his best form last season and scored 58 goals.
Bayern Munich Guardiola and Messi always had a special relationship following their glory days at the Camp Nou and the Spaniard was quick to wish his former player a speedy recovery.
Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets has cursed his side’s bad luck following the news that Lionel Messi faces two months out injured.
“Without Messi we lose a lot of things from our style of play that we will now have to rearrange collectively but I have no doubt that we will overcome this”.
“This is a test and an extra motivation for this team”, the second-year coach said.
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Messi’s bid for another Ballon d’Or may come a cropper as a result but his contemporary Cristiano Ronaldo also suffered a frustrating night as Real Madrid stuttered to a 0-0 draw with 10-man Malaga.
