Barcelona is the top club in the world because it is a well-oiled machine. Every part fits together nicely with each player occupying a distinct role that suits his and the team's playing style. The most important piece in this puzzle is Lionel Messi. While most of the other players are deployed to find seems in opposing defenders, Messi's task is to finish the chances masterfully created by his teammates.
However, the team might have to endure its longest stretch without its top star after Messi suffered a hamstring injury against Paris Saint-Germain in Tuesday's first leg of the Champions league quarterfinals.
Initial reports indicated that the Argentine might be out for three weeks, but the team's website announce that the timetable could be even shorter.
"The club's medical services have revealed that Leo Messi's hamstring injury will definitely rule him out of this weekend's game against Mallorca, whilst his availability after that will depend on how the injury progresses," read a statement on Barcelona's website. "The Barça number 10 felt a twinge in his right hamstring towards the end of the first half last night and failed to reappear after the break, with Cesc Fábregas taking his place."
Messi also stated on his on his official Facebook page that injury was not as bad as initially thought. "I will return soon," he said. "Thankfully it was not so serious."
However, the team knows that regardless of the length of his absence, they will need to learn to fight without him.
"The fact that we don't have him is an incentive to prove to everyone that we have enough quality to compete without him and show that we can do it just as well as when he's here," defender Dani Alves told the press on Wednesday.
Messi has been durable over the years. The last time the team lost him for an extended period of time was in 2009 when he missed one week. He was also injured in December during a match with Benfica in the Champions League group stage.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
