Fears about the extent of Lionel Messi's injury have been confirmed by the club as Barcelona have confirmed that the Argentine will be out for four weeks following his injury against Atletico Madrid in their 1-1 draw at Camp Nou. It was earlier speculated that this injury was a relapse of the groin injury that he suffered in the previous international break, but now it has emerged that Messi has suffered a new injury.
Messi has injured the adductor in his right leg as he was immediately substituted at the starting of the second half against Atletico. The Argentine will miss at least two club games during his time off the pitch and also his country's two World Cup qualifiers. He is expected to miss a league game against Celta Vigo as well as a Champions League tie against Borussia Monchengladbach. With Argentina, he is expected to miss the qualifiers against Peru Uruguay.
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On Messi's injury, Luis Enrique was quoted saying, “I'm not a doctor, but to lose Messi, football loses, we all lose, and that's something we are sad about. Last year he had a big injury and the team was at a good level. The truth is that with Leo we are stronger, but we will be strong without him, we have to keep playing well.” The Catalan boss was without the five-time Balon d'Or in their 5-1 demolition of Sporting Gijon.
Messi's teammate Andres Iniesta echoed Enrique's views as he said, “The team is stronger with Messi than without him, but it is the squad as a whole that wins a title. We all wish he could play these next few games, but unforeseen circumstances do happen. " Lionel Messi had started the new season on a high as the Argentine has four goals in five games along with a hattrick against Leganes.
Argentina boss, Edgardo Bauza has accused Barcelona of not taking proper care of Messi as the current injury will make their captain miss two of their crucial qualifiers. However, Barcelona have revealed that the Argentine FA have been in contact with the club as they have issued their statement to express its apology for the comments made by the manager regarding Messi's injury.
