Messi injury blow for log leaders Barca
Star player suffers fracture after tussle
Barcelona – Lionel Messi is expected to be out for three weeks with a fractured right arm but his last contribution was to help send Barcelona back to the top of La Liga on Saturday.
Messi scored and then went off injured as Barca beat Sevilla 4-2 at Camp Nou in a sixgoal thriller that never looked like ending in anything other than a home win.
Any joy at jumping above inform Sevilla, however, was tarnished by Messi’s injury, which will now rule him out of next weekend’s Clasico against Real Madrid. A Barcelona club statement read: “Tests carried out on Messi have confirmed he has a fracture of the radial bone in his right arm. He’ll be out for approximately three weeks.” It means Messi will also miss the Champions League match at home to Inter Milan on Wednesday, and probably the return trip to Italy on November 6, as well as league games against Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano.
“It is clear it is a blow,” Barca coach Ernesto Valverde said. “We know what he gives us and we know what he does to the opposition.
“It is clear we are going to notice the loss of Messi but we have players that can cover.” Messi fell to the ground following a tussle with Sevilla’s Franco Vazquez and, as his right hand tried to cushion the landing, his elbow appeared to buckle. Medical staff helped Messi off the pitch and, despite having his right arm heavily strapped, he was finally substituted in the 26th minute. –