Barcelona has confirmed that Lionel Messi will be sidelined for three weeks with a groin strain.
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The Argentinian striker left the game in the 59th minute after a tackle collision with defender Diego Godin.
Messi missed his country’s recent World Cup qualifier against Venezuela – having played with the injury against Uruguay – after injuring his groin against Athletic Bilbao in a league game at the end of August.
He could return to action before the match with English Premier League side Manchester City.
Messi has been sidelined for three weeks and will now miss upcoming La Liga games against Sporting Gijon and Celta Vigo and Champions League tie against Borussia Monchengladbach before the global break.
Ivan Rakitic gave the Catalan side the lead in the first half, but Atletico’s Angel Correa scored in the second half to share the spoils.
“There’s no question we are stronger with Messi”, Iniesta told Cadena Cope radio ahead of Saturday’s match at Sporting Gijon.
Barcelona coach Luis Henrique said afterwards: “To lose Messi means that football loses”.
“Leo Messi has torn the groin muscle in his right leg”.
Barcelona’s midfield anchor Sergio Busquets was also forced off in the second half on Wednesday but Luis Enrique explained the Spain worldwide was merely worn out after recently recovering from illness.
“What I can tell you is that in the last game I was not too happy about the first half from the whole team, not just one or two players “But the team came together as a whole”.
“For me, Messi will not be able to play in the knockout games”.
“Without Leo we all lose.
It happened today but it’s not going to change how we want to play”.
Notably, the five-time Ballon d’Or victor came back from global retirement and helped Bauza’s Argentina beat Uruguay 1-0 in the World Cup qualifier.
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“We received the official report from Barcelona and to us it seemed unusual because three weeks is not long enough to recover from a torn adductor muscle”.
