Barcelona have suffered a major blow as star striker Lionel Messi has been sidelined for at least three weeks due to a groin injury which he suffered during team’s 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid in their fifth La Liga clash on Thursday.
Advertisement
Barca revealed on their official twitter account that the Argentinian global will be out for three weeks with a groin injury.
Turkish worldwide midfielder Arda Turan could end up filling the boots of Messi just as he deputised for Neymar over the start of the season when the Brazilian forward was on global duty.
The midfielder, who got hurt while sprinting for the ball in the 58th minute, was replaced by Arda Turan, who will be the likely starter in the next three games.
A shock defeat in La Liga at home against newly-promoted Alaves was followed by a 7-0 demolition of Celtic in the Champions League.
Barca boss Luis Enrique spoke to the Spanish media about the loss of their key man: ‘Losing Messi is a loss to us and a loss to football.
If Messi recovers within the timeframe given by the team, he will be back in time for the highly anticipated Champions League match against Manchester City on October 19. Sevilla are second on 11 points, Barcelona third on nine points while Atletico are fourth, on eight points.
Perhaps more damaging for Barca was the loss of Messi to a possible recurrence of an existing groin problem, while Sergio Busquets was also withdrawn before the hour mark.
The injury means Messi is set to miss LaLiga matches against Sporting Gijon and Celta Vigo plus a Champions League tie away to Borussia Monchengladbach in between.
Real Madrid’s record-equalling 16-game La Liga win streak came to an end as Villarreal held out for a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Advertisement
“We should start looking for different solutions”.
