Barcelona forward Lionel Messi will be out for between six and eight weeks with a hamstring injury, the La Liga leaders said Monday.

The Argentinian suffered a ­muscle tear in his left hamstring during Barcelona's 4-1 La Liga win at Real Betis on Sunday.

The World Player of the Year was substituted during the first half ­after pulling up following a sprint for possession.

It was his 16th game of the season in which he has scored 14 goals.

It was also the third thigh injury of the season for a player renowned under former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, who is now the head coach of Germany's Bayern Munich, for his ability to avoid ­injury, despite being the focal point of Barcelona's famed tiki-taka, one-touch soccer.

Barcelona said on their website the first stage of Messi's recovery would be in the Catalan city before he traveled to Buenos Aires.

The 26-year-old will miss the ­final two matches in the Champions League group stage for Barcelona, against Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic. Barcelona have already qualified for the last-16 phase which takes place in late February.

Barcelona lead La Liga by three points from Atletico Madrid and six from arch-rivals Real Madrid.

­Barcelona are due to play Atletico in ­Madrid on January 12 but have games against lesser opponents before then.

Messi will also miss Argentina's friendlies against Ecuador, on ­Friday, and Bosnia, on Monday.

Reuters - Global Times