Lionel Messi will be out for three weeks after suffering a groin strain as
he limped off in Barcelona's 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid.
The five-time World Player of the Year missed Argentina's World Cup
qualifier with Venezuela earlier this month due to the problem and only started
Barca's shock 2-1 defeat to Alaves 10 days ago on the bench as coach Luis
Enrique bedded him back into action gently.
After an inoffensive tussle with Atletico's Diego Godin in the second half
of Wednesday night's La Liga clash at the Nou Camp, the 29-year-old went down
holding his groin, and was ultimately brought off looking worried.
Barcelona confirmed on their Twitter account after the game that the
Argentine will be out for three weeks with a groin strain in his right leg.
"To lose Messi means that football loses," Enrique said after the
draw. "With Messi we are stronger, but we will continue being
strong."
Messi's absence had an immediate impact as Angel Correa scored for Atletico
just a minute after his international teammate went off to level the scores at
1-1.
The Argentine's replacement Arda Turan had barely taken up his position when
Atletico levelled as Correa coolly slotted home after Javier Mascherano's slip
offered him a clear path to goal.
The injury means Messi will likely miss games against Sporting Gijon (away),
Monchengladbach (away), Celta Vigo (away) and Deportivo (home), but should
return for the home Champions League clash with Manchester City on October 19.
And Enrique later admitted it would be "difficult to protect"
Messi with so many games coming thick and fast for Barca and
with Argentina no doubt desperate to have him involved in next month's
World Cup qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Enrique said Atletico had been a tough nut for his side to
crack.
"When there are 11 guys in the area, co-ordinated like that, it takes a
lot out of us to break them down," he said in quotes reported by
Marca.
"This result is not what we wanted, but we must move on."
There was also an injury for midfielder Sergio Busquets just before
Messi suffered his problem, which will somewhat overshadow the ceremony to
mark Busquets renewing his Barcelona contract until 2021 on Thursday.
Atletico boss Diego Simeone, however, was very pleased with his
side's work as they absorbed plenty of pressure, but created plenty
of openings themselves.
"We all know it is difficult to get a result at the Nou Camp. In
the first half they had a lot of control and that made it difficult for us
to get on the counter-attack," he told Diario Sport.
"The work we did in all the defensive lines was extraordinary. We
talked at half-time and the team was able to react in the second half and
played with more aggression."