Barca Lose Messi

Barcelona had a Pyrrhic victory of sorts on Saturday. Their win at Mestalla allowed them to get to a point of Real Madrid in the standings as the hype already began in Spain over next week’s Derbi. The greater loss was that of Lionel Messi who left the game in the first half and was diagnosed with a tear in his quadriceps.

This will force him to be out of El Derbi next weekend and for an additional month. This will be a devastating loss if you add the fact that Thierry Henry will be missing as well. As of right now, Eidur Gudjohnsen will be up front along with Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o.

Messi’s last derby was his true coming out. He was no longer looked upon as the wunderkind that developed under the wing of the other Barca stars and developed his own identity. In that match he scored a hat-trick and helped Barcelona earn a draw at the death.