Lionel Messi will miss this weekend’s La Liga match at home to Real Mallorca with a hamstring injury to his right leg and will then return to action depending on the speed of his recovery, Barcelona said after tests yesterday.
The World Player of the Year limped off at half-time in Barca’s 2-2 quarter-final first-leg draw away to Paris St Germain on Tuesday and is doubtful for next Wednesday’s return at the Nou Camp.
Local media reports had said he would be out of action for about three weeks. “I will return soon, thankfully it was not so serious,” Messi said on his Facebook page.
“We are so sorry for Masche (Javier Mascherano) we will give our support he returns as soon as possible.”
His Argentine team-mate Mascherano was carried off on a stretcher 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.
Barcelona host relegation-threatened Mallorca on Saturday holding a 13-point lead over chasing Real Madrid with nine games left to play.
Scoring feet
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.
The spotlight falls on his misfiring strike partners ahead of next week’s second leg. Messi joined Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Galatasaray’s Burak Yilmaz as the competition’s leading scorers with eight goals, but the closest any of his team-mates come to that is left back Jordi Alba’s two goals. Ronaldo, of course, moved on to the nine-goal mark with his strike against Galatasaray last night.
"Good draw, but very expensive!" was the front-page headline of Barcelona-based daily Sport yesterday.
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 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.
Young winger
Cristian Tello is another option. The little-used, young winger scored one and set up the second for Messi in their 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo in La Liga last Saturday, and brings a directness and pace to an attack that at times lacks a cutting edge.
He has scored one goal in the Champions League this season.
Barca coach Tito Vilanova also has headaches in defence after Mascherano was taken off on a stretcher with a torn knee ligament, and the club said he was looking at six weeks on the sidelines.
“Messi and Mascherano are two very important pieces of the team,” Xavi said. “We are having a lot of bad luck in defence, with Carles Puyol and Adriano Correia already out, and now this.”
Vilanova lacks specialist centre-backs, a problem that has been evident since Barca failed in their attempts to purchase one at the end of last season. Mascherano himself is a converted midfielder.
