The 26-year-old Argentinian
limped off the court with a muscle tear in his left hamstring.
Back in September,
Messi was sidelined after
injuring his thigh against Almeria.
The World Player of the Year suffered his latest injury playing 18 minutes against Betis,
BBC News reports.
A statement by
Barcelona read:
"The club's medical services confirmed that Leo Messi has a torn hamstring muscle in his left thigh and is expected to miss the next six to eight weeks.
"The first phase of Messi's recovery will be covered in Barcelona and he will then travel to Buenos Aires."
Due to the injury, Messi will miss Argentina's
friendlies against Ecuador and Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as many domestic matches.
Messi's Barcelona teammate,
Cesc Fabregas, has urged him to take his time healing and not to return until he is 100%,
The Independent reports.
"He has to stop to take the time that he needs to emphasize his explosiveness," the former Arsenal captain said following the match. "Something similar happened to me and I was badly affected.
"You believe you're okay at first but you're not. I was disappointed to miss out on some games but I know I'm at Barcelona and I will continue to grow.
"I spent the injury out of action and even spent half a year with the ordeal, which was not good; it was a very bad injury. Messi has to stop as it takes time to recover if it does not heal properly."
