Messi ruled out for up to three weeks

Messi will miss around three weeks with a muscle injury. Credit: PA

Barcelona are set to be without Lionel Messi for around three weeks after he ruptured an adductor muscle in his right leg in the 1-1 draw at home to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night.

The Argentinian maestro appeared to suffer the injury after tussling for possession with Atletico defender Diego Godin and was replaced by Arda Turan with 58 minutes gone.

Worse was to follow for Barca as Angel Correa then equalised for the visitors, jinking past Javier Mascherano and steering a shot past Marc-Andre ter Stegen and in off a post.

The news about Messi was a further blow to Barcelona, who were unable to make any inroads into Real Madrid's three-point lead at the top despite Ivan Rakitic heading them in front against Diego Simeone's side in the 41st minute.

The club confirmed the time-frame of Messi's injury in a tweet from the club's official account, and coach Luis Enrique told the Spanish media: "Losing Messi is a loss to us and a loss to football. With Leo we are stronger, but we are still strong without him."