Barça (and other six teams) qualified for last-eight games but miss Messi
Friday, March 7th, 2008
After the matches played last Tuesday and Wednesday, Barcelona, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Rome, Ferenbahçe and Schalke 04 are already qualified for last-eight games of Champions League 2007/08. Internazionale and Liverpool will play on March 11 to decide the last team to be qualified for this phase which corresponding matches (as well as possible semi-finals) will be draw on Friday March 14 in Nyon.
But one of the important facts is that Lionel Messi will miss both legs of FC Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie after being ruled out for six weeks with a torn thigh muscle. The 22-year-old Argentinean was forced to leave the pitch 38 minutes into Tuesday night’s 1-0 win against Celtic FC, which completed a 4-2 aggregate victory for Frank Rijkaard’s side. Suffering the damage during a sprint, Messi left the field in distress having also torn muscle in his left thigh in a league game against Valencia CF in December, an injury which resulted in a one-month absence from the first team.
Club doctors have ruled Messi out for six weeks, meaning he will miss a crucial period with Barça still in the running for three trophies. He is expected to miss six Liga First Division games, both legs of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and he will also stop his career to obtain the tittle of maximum scorer where he is now on top together with Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United with 6 goals each. He will also miss the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Valencia and also the final on April 16, should Barça make it.