Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday and suffered an injury blow to Lionel Messi.
Barca revealed on their official twitter account that the Argentinian international will be out for three weeks with a groin injury.
[BREAKING NEWS] Leo Messi has groin strain in his right leg and he will be out for around 3 weeks pic.twitter.com/LrzDbsgqM6
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 21, 2016
Messi also missed Argentina’s World Cup qualifier with Venezuela earlier in the month as a result of the same groin problem.
Turkish international midfielder Arda Turan could end up filling the boots of Messi just as he deputised for Neymar over the start of the season when the Brazilian forward was on international duty.
The 29-year-old did replace Messi during the Atleti game following his injury.
Turan did an impressive job filling in for Neymar and already has three goals and three assists this season – more goals than he scored all last season.
The experienced attacking midfielder is match fit this season after a long pre-season training schedule and has been in impressive move.
Turan’s positional flexibility means he can play in just about every midfield and attacking midfield/forward position. Last season Turan played in every midfield position as well as on the wings.
In other Barcelona team news Barca B player Nili joined the first team during training ahead of the Atleti clash and could find himself promoted over the course of the season after catching the eye of Luis Enrique.
See More
Barcelona Player Profile: Arda Turan – The Bearded Genius
