On Saturday night, Camp Nou saw hosts Barcelona beat Sevilla 4-2, ending a streak of four La Liga gameswithout a win. The confidence-lifting victory, which helped the defending Spanish champions regain their lead in the top flight, was marred by an injury to their captain Lionel Messi.
The 31-year-old Argentine icon set up the opener for Coutinho and posted a goal himself; he was subbed off in the 26th minute after a collision with Franco Vazquez sent him falling awkwardly in midfield and landing on his right arm. According to his club's website, Barcelona's No. 10 is said to have broken the radial bone in his right arm and has been ruled out for three weeks.
This means that Messi will miss the Champions League action against Inter Milan and La Liga fixture with bitter rivals Real Madrid as well as four other games in the league, the Champions League, and the Copa del Rey.
Although Blaugrana manager Ernesto Valverde played down concerns that his club would struggle without its all-time top-scorer, fans have been speculating that three Messi-less weeks would put his coaching ability to a serious test.
It seems that some aficionados are desperately looking for a way to bring Messi back to the pitch as soon as possible.
However, many web users are still confident about Barcelona's chances in El Clasico even despite Messi's injury.
Others believe that the first El Clasico in years without either Lionel Messi or former Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who moved to Juventus this summer, will hardly garner a lot of viewers' attention.