Messi, out for two to three weeks

FC Barcelona confirmed on Sunday that its star player, Lionel Messi, will be unavailable for the next two or three weeks because of a "minor injury to the biceps femoris in his right leg", according to a message on the azulgranas' website.

The Argentinian picked up the injury in Saturday's clash against UD Almería which the Catalonian side won 0-2 to give Gerardo Martin's side its best ever start (seven victories from seven matches). It was Messi who opened the scoring with a sublime strike from outside the area. The injury means that the Argentinian will miss the azulgranas' two ties this week: on Tuesday against Celtic FC in Glasgow in the second match of the UEFA Champions League group stage, and on Saturday against Real Valladolid CF in the Liga BBVA. Messi joins Barcelona's other Argentinian player, Javier Mascherano, on the injury list, the latter coincidently having also injured the biceps femoris in his right leg.

The Rosario native started the season firing on all cylinders. He has found the net eight times in the league, where he is the top goal-scorer together with Diego Costa, and has three more to his name in the UEFA Champions League thanks to his hat-trick against AFC Ajax in the first group-stage match.