LIONEL MESSI has plunged Barcelona into a mini-crisis with the news he will face three weeks on the sidelines.
The reigning Ballon d’Or winner went down with an abductor muscle injury during the second half of his side’s 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid — just two minutes before the Catalans conceded an equaliser.
To compound the misery for Luis Enrique, he also lost Sergio Busquets earlier in the game.
Barcelona lost Messi for two months last season after a knee injury during a 2-1 victory over Las Palmas.
He missed five league games, which yielded four wins and a defeat.
However, he was rested for the visit of Alaves earlier this season and the La Liga champions crashed to a shock defeat.
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Enrique has been accused of an overreliance on his superstar attacking trio of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
Barca were on course for a second consecutive Treble last season after winning 24 of their first 29 league games.
However, when the trio tired, there was no suitable deputy and the Catalans’ season began to unravel.
They were 2-0 at Villarreal and set to go 11 points clear — however, the Yellow Submarine fought back to earn a draw.
That sparked a disastrous run of form with three consecutive La Liga defeats and elimination from the Champions League.
Barca eventually recovered with a 14 goals in their next to games to eventually win the title by a point.
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