In September, Lionel Messi injured his knee in Barcelona's 2-1 win against Las Palmas in La Liga. According to media reports, his recovery has suffered setbacks and he will not be fit for El Clasico — Barcelona's clash against fellow La Liga titans Real Madrid — on Nov. 21.
Spanish newspaper Sport reported that Messi is a week behind schedule in his recovery after having pain during attempts to run.
In Messi's absence, Neymar and Luis Suarez have been on fire, scoring 14 goals between them in La Liga, which accounts for every single goal scored by Barca in La Liga since Messi went down.
Missing the best player in the world, though, will most likely have some kind of effect on Barcelona, who will in all likelihood enter El Clasico tied with Real Madrid on top of La Liga.
Before El Clasico, Barcelona play BATE Borisov in the Champions League and Villarreal in La Liga. El Clasico comes just after the ensuing international break, in which it has been reported that Messi will not be able to feature for Argentina in their Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Colombia. Through two games, Argentina have not even scored a goal in qualification without Messi, and only have one point so far thanks to a 0-0 draw with Paraguay.
Real Madrid, it should be noted, are also banged up, but their best player, Cristiano Ronaldo, is currently fit.
Contact THe18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
