Barcelona Star Lionel Messi Out For Six Or Eight Weeks

Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel Messi will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks due to a muscle tear in his left hamstring muscle, the Spanish giants said Monday.
The 26-year-old limped off after just 20 minutes of
Barcelona's 4-1 win over Real Betis on Sunday and was
replaced by Andres Iniesta.
It was the third time this season that he has been forced off
with a muscular problem following hamstring and thigh
injuries in his right leg.
"The club's medical services confirmed after tests this
Monday morning that Leo Messi has a torn hamstring muscle
in his left thigh and is expected to miss the next 6 to 8
weeks," Barcelona said in a statement.
"The first phase of Messi's recovery will be covered in
Barcelona and he will then travel to Buenos Aires," it added.
After Sunday's match Barcelona boss Gerardo Martino said
Messi's injury troubles were not related and the absence of
the four-time World Player of the Year could never be used as
en excuse for the team to not perform.
"We have the best player in the world, but we also have four
or five of the next six or seven best players in the world.
Therefore, as a coach, the absence of Messi should never be
used as an excuse for not winning.
"The injury to Messi doesn't have anything to do with the
previous ones because it is in the other leg.
"We also need to speak with Leo, it is the third episode he has
had in a short time so it is obviously playing on his mind."
Lionel Messi
Messi suffered a bruised thigh during the first leg od the
Spanish Super Cup against Atletico Madrid which kept him
out for a week.
He then suffered a small muscle tear in his right thigh during
a La Liga match against Almeria on September 28 which
sidelined him for three weeks.
Last week Messi said on Chinese social networking site
Weibo at the weekend he was still not fully fit.
"Physically I am still not at 100 percent but I am confident
that as I play more matches I will recover my rhythm," he
said.
Despite losing Messi with the score still at 0-0, Barcelona
cruised to victory as two goals in two minutes from Neymar
and Pedro Rodriguez put them 2-0 up at the break and Cesc
Fabregas struck twice after the interval.
The win left Barcelona with 37 points from 13 games, ahead
of second-placed Atletico Madrid.
Fabregas said he understood Messi's frustration, but that it
was possibly best for his teammate to sit out a couple of
weeks to recover his best form.
"Messi needs to be explosive to stand out and he needs to stop
for as long as it requires to be ok," the midfielder said after
Sunday's match.
"The same thing has happened to me in the past and it is very
frustrating."
Fabregas also limped off after appearing to injure his knee
whilst scoring his second of the night.
The club said Monday he has a sprained knee ligament and
will need roughly one week to recover.