Lionel Messi will be out for another two to three weeks according to his club Barcelona.
The club announced that the four time Ballon d'Or winner continues to struggle from a hamstring injury that forced him to sit during the Champions league semifinal against Bayern Munich. ESPNFC suspects that he may miss the remainder of the season, including the final on June 1 against Malaga.
If this is the end of the season for Messi, then he will face a drop in his production from a year ago when he broke records left and right. Messi has scored 60 goals in 50 games this season; he put up 73 tallies in 60 matches last season. Moreover, Messi currently trails rival Cristiano Ronaldo in goals scored in 2013. Messi has put up 25 tallies in this calendar year while Ronaldo has 33 on the year.
Messi's injury occurred on April 2 in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Paris Saint-Germain. The striker sat during the second leg and was utilized late in the match to help Barcelona tie up the score. He played some minutes in the first leg of the semifinal against Bayern Munich but was ineffective. He played a few games in the Spanish league thereafter and re-aggravated his hamstring injury this past Sunday in a 2-1 win against Atletico Madrid.
There is a chance that Messi might make his next appearance for his national team on June 7 against Colombia.
"I hope we can count on Lionel, if he is here, he is welcome," Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella said about getting Messi back against Colombia. "Lionel is the best in the world, what team would not be Messi-dependent? But if he can't play, this is a way to see how we play without him. Our days until the match vs. Colombia are few."
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