Barcelona fans came face to face with their scariest nightmare this weekend - a Lionel Messi injury.
The Argentinian football superstar went down in their 2-1 home victory vs Las Palmas in La Liga with knee ligament damage. He left after only 10 minutes and substituted by El Haddadi. Messi is expected to be out for up to two months.
Lionel Messi injury is the last thing Barcelona needs in their title defense. Not only they are struggling with goals this early, they are also dealing with injury to another valuable player Rafinha.
With the four-time Ballon d'Or winner gone, manager Luis Enrique recognizes there will be a big hole in the squad. He even hints that their style will be greatly affected.
"It is always sad when a player is injured. In the case of Messi it is not necessary for me to say what we all know that he is very important to the team," Enrique said as per report by Sky Sports.
"Without Messi we lose a lot of things from our style of play that we will now have to rearrange collectively but I have no doubt that we will overcome this."
According to Fox Sports, the latest Lionel Messi injury will see him sidelined for up to eight weeks. The earliest return possible is six weeks.
"Barcelona faces two long months without Lionel Messi after its star forward tore a ligament in his left knee during the defending champion's Spanish league match against Las Palmas on Saturday," Fox Sports wrote.
"The Catalan club confirmed the injury after Messi had tests at a nearby Barcelona hospital. Barcelona said it expects Messi to be out "seven to eight weeks."
Lionel Messi injury comes at a time when Barcelona gears up for a hectic schedule. They will return to action on Wednesday for the UEFA Champions League group stage vs Bayer Leverkusen. After that is Sevilla and Rayo Vallecano in La Liga and then BATE again in UCL.
