Barcelona have confirmed that Lionel Messi will be out of action for around three weeks after injuring his groin in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou.
With Luis Enrique’s side leading by one goal in the second half, the Argentine dropped to the ground having been struggling since reappearing after the break.
Arda Turan was readied and came on his place, with Angel Correa grabbing Atletico’s equaliser almost immediately.
Despite concerns that it was a previous groin problem which had resurfaced, Barca revealed it’s the groin in his right leg this time, not his left leg.
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.
Following his return to Spain, he was rushed back into action against Alaves, coming on as a second-half substitute in the 2-1 win loss earlier this month.
He then played 90 minutes in comfortable wins over Celtic and Leganes, and in the Champions League and La Liga respectively.
Barca now face three away games, with trips to Sporting Gijon, Borussia Monchengladbach and Celta Vigo coming up before October’s international break, and Messi is expected to miss all of them.
He is also expected to miss Argentina’s World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Paraguay on Oct. 6 and 11, respectively.
The Catalan side also lost Sergio Busquets to flu in the 50th minute of the draw with Atletico, with the midfielder replaced by Andre Gomes.
Luis Enrique explained in his postgame news conference that Busquets had been struggling with illness in the build-up to the game and that by half-time he had no energy to continue.
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