A fracture to his right arm as a result of a nasty fall, has ruled Barcelona star Lionel Messi out for three weeks, said a statement from the club. This effectively means that the talismanic forward would miss next week’s El Clasico and both of Barcelona’s Champions League fixtures against Inter Milan on October 24 and November 6.
The incident happened during Barcelona’s home match against Sevilla at home when Messi was brought down by a challenge from Sevilla’s Franco Vazquez. The 31-year then landed awkwardly on his right arm and was immediately examined by club doctors on the sidelines of the match.
Later, it was seen that his right-arm was heavily strapped as he walked down the tunnel.
Messi assisted Philippe Coutinho for Barcelona’s opener in just the second minute and himself netted the second goal. But he had to leave the pitch with serious pain and a bandaged right-arm following the incident. He was replaced by French forward Ousmane Dembele in the 26th minute.
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“Obviously it’s a considerable loss…We know what he gives us and what we miss when he is not around. We have to deal with it and we will be prepared. It’s clear that we will notice his absence, but we will cope and we have resources, even though we will be facing some very difficult teams,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said, as quoted by Reuters.
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said that the absence of Messi would definitely impact the team but said that his side would have to go through the next few games without losing many points.
“He gives us a lot of peace of mind when he is around but we don’t have to suffer without him…There’s a big difference between having him on the pitch or not but we have a strong enough team to win games whether he plays or not,” Pique said.