Messi out again with injury
Barcelona announced that Lionel Messi will be sidelined due to a muscle injury picked up in a La Liga match against Villarreal on Tuesday.
The two-time defending league champ said Messi, who earlier in the week won his sixth FIFA player of the year award, has a left abductor injury. The club didn’t give a timeline for his recovery.
Messi reportedly will miss Saturday’s league match at Getafe on Saturday and is doubtful for the Champions League match against Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Messi made his first start of the season against Villarreal following a long layoff due to a right calf injury.
He played his first minutes of the season when he came off the bench in the second half of a 0-0 draw against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last week. He also came off the bench in the second half of the 2-0 road loss against La Liga foe Granada on Sunday.
Messi set up Antoine Griezmann’s opening goal early in the match against Villarreal, then got hurt near the half-hour mark at Camp Nou Stadium. The playmaker left the field, and doctors attended to his leg for few minutes before he eventually returned and finished the half. He was replaced at halftime.
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