adminThe Argentine was withdrawn at halftime in the 2-2 draw at Parc des Princes on Tuesday after suffering a hamstring injury shortly after putting Barcelona in front on the night.
He has since undergone tests on the injury, and the club has confirmed he has a problem with his right femoral bicep, ruling him out of Saturday’s Liga match with Mallorca, leaving his participation against PSG in doubt.
“Tests have confirmed that Leo Messi has a muscle injury in the femoral bicep of his right leg,” a club statement read.
“He is out for the Liga match on Saturday, and his rate of recovery will determine his availability for subsequent commitments.”
The player himself moved to assure fans that the injury was not serious, and wished teammate Javier Mascherano a speedy recovery from his own knee problem.
“I will return soon, thankfully it was not so serious,” he said on his Facebook page.
“We feel very sorry for Masche (Mascherano), and wish him strength so that he can return quickly.”
His Argentine teammate, defender Mascherano, was carried off on a stretcher in Paris and has been ruled out for six weeks with knee ligament damage.
Messi is Barca’s leading scorer with eight goals in the Champions League and 43 in La Liga this season, and is an ever-present figure in the side.
He is rarely rested and has been extraordinarily resilient to injury. The last time he was sidelined with a muscle injury was in November 2009 when he was out of action for a week, Barca said.
Barcelona host relegation-threatened Mallorca on Saturday holding a 13-point lead over chasing Real Madrid with nine games left to play.
Messi’s absence will bring to an end his latest scoring feet of netting in 19 successive league matches, against every team in La Liga consecutively.
Meanwhile, It’s a sight that has been thankfully rare over the years for Barcelona fans and the millions who appreciate his genius.
But Messi is facing a spell on the sidelines of up to three weeks after being substituted at half-time during Tuesday night’s Champions League tie in Paris with a hamstring injury.
The club have confirmed that he has a thigh injury and will miss Saturday’s match at home to Real Mallorca at the very least. Messi even took to his Facebook page to confirm his knock isn’t as bad as first feared.
Depending on his recovery, it could also see him absent from the return with PSG next week and subsequent La Liga matches that will see Barca secure the title.
For someone who is always target No. 1 for brutish defenders, Messi is astonishingly resilient. His untouchable scoring record and long list of accolades are testament not only to his brilliance but a good injury record.
In fact this season, the 25-year-old has played 3 193 of a possible 3 420 minutes in the league and Champions League — meaning he’s missed just 227 minutes of action in these competitions.
Representing a club inevitably involved to the business end of competitions, Messi is used to playing in excess of 50 matches a season for Barcelona and up to a dozen more for Argentina.
Whereas other star players, particularly in the English Premier League, are rested or rotated for less important games, Messi is as likely to start against Granada and Getafe than he is against Real Madrid.
But the physical toll rarely shows on his body, with the Argentine suffering only four injury lay-offs of note over his career.
Before Tuesday night, he had not had a muscle injury for three-and-a-half years, when a calf problem ruled him out of a Champions League tie with Inter Milan and a league Clasico with Real in November 2009.
He was an unused substitute in the Inter tie as Pep Guardiola decided not to risk him.
He missed league games against Sporting Gijon and Athletic Bilbao in September 2010 with a stretched ligament, but returned for a trip to Russia to play Rubin Kazan the following week. Prior to that, you have to go back to the 2007-2008 season when a 20-year-old Messi missed about 10 weeks of the season with a couple of injury scares.
While Barcelona’s quarter-final tie with PSG is delicately poised at 2-2, Messi’s teammates won’t be too concerned by his absence.
The statistics show that, in Champions League games since Messi broke into the first team in 2004, they have won 71 percent of matches without him and just 56 percent of games when he’s been rested or injured.
This is probably explained by Barcelona’s run to the trophy in 2006, when Messi played just six of the club’s 13 games. By contrast, in La Liga, Barcelona have won 76 percent of games since 2004 with him in the team.
But when Messi is absent, they have won only half. The injury will bring to an end his record run of scoring in 19 consecutive league games. His first-half goal against PSG also drew him level with Cristiano Ronaldo and Galatasaray’s Burak Yilmaz as top scorer in the Champions League with eight goals. In addition, defender Mascherano was taken off on a stretcher after 84 minutes with a knee injury and will be missing for “four to six weeks” according to Barca coach Jordi Roura.
Messi’s absence turns the spotlight on Barcelona’s misfiring strike force.
Spain’s David Villa and Pedro, Chile’s Alexis Sanchez, and midfielder-cum-forward Cesc Fabregas have managed only three goals between them in Europe, trailing way behind Messi, the Champions League’s leading scorer for the the last four seasons in a row.
Sanchez is clearly lacking in confidence, as was seen with two poorly-taken chances on Tuesday, though he did win the penalty for Xavi to put Barca 2-1 up near the end.
Villa has failed to recover his consistency and sharpness since breaking his leg at the Club World Cup in December 2011, and Fabregas has been short of form in recent weeks.
Pedro, who was suspended on Tuesday, should have recovered from a calf injury for the second leg, but has yet to get off the mark in the Champions League this season. — Soccernet-Mailonline.
Online Reporter