Barcelona have confirmed that Lionel Messi will be out for three weeks with a tear to his right groin muscle.

Messi pulled up five minutes shy of an hour in Barca’s 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday as he began to walk around the pitch gingerly, clutching his pelvic area, before falling to the ground and being replaced by Arda Turan.

A statement on Barca’s official website subsequently reported the Argentine suffered “tear in the adductor of his right thigh” and that his downtime would be three weeks, ruling him out of games against Sporting Gijon, Borussia Monchengladbach and Celta Vigo.

Given that the international break falls next weekend, Messi may not appear again for Barca until October 15, when his side host Deportivo La Coruna.

Sergio Busquets was also forced off with an injury, although the Catalans confirmed his case to be merely a bout of flu.

Tags injury Lionel Messi
La Liga - Club News