Sports shorts Messi breaks arm, to miss three weeks

Lionel Messi broke his right forearm on Saturday and will be sidelined for about three weeks, a major setback for him and Barcelona right before some important games.

Messi will miss playing Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday, and the clasico against Real Madrid next weekend. He’ll miss three others, including the return game against Inter.

“It’s a significant loss. We will notice his absence,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said.

“We’ve played without him in the past. We will be prepared to overcome this.”

Messi was hurt in the first half of Barcelona’s 4-2 win against Sevilla at Camp Nou Stadium. He was trying to reclaim the ball when he ran into the back of Sevilla midfielder Franco Vazquez and fell in the 17th minute. Trying to cushion his landing, Messi’s right elbow bent badly.

He was in visible pain and was treated by team doctors.

They wrapped his elbow with bandages and the playmaker tried to continue, but he eventually left the field.

Messi was taken to a clinic and the club said tests showed a “fracture of the radial bone.” Dick Modzelewski, a star defensive tackle who appeared in eight NFL titles game with the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns during the 1950s and `60s, has died. He was 87.

He died Friday at his home in Eastlake, the Giants said in a statement Saturday. No cause was given.

Modzelewski spent 14 years in the NFL, eight with the Giants that included six title games.

Modzelewski also appeared in two championship games with the Browns.

The Redskins drafted Modzelewski in the second round. He played two seasons there before his trade to the Steelers.

After one year in Pittsburgh, Modzelewski was again traded, this time twice in less than a week. The Steelers dealt him to the Detroit Lions, who three days later sent him to the Giants.

Modzelewski was traded to the Browns in 1964 for wide receiver Bobby Crespino. He was expected to be a backup but became a starter when Frank Parker was injured. Cleveland played in the championship game in each of Modzelewski’s first two seasons, beating Baltimore in 1964 and then losing to Green Bay.

Modzelewski is survived by his wife of 64 years, Dorothy Jane, and four children.

A funeral is set for Oct. 26 in Mentor.