BARCELONA FORWARD Lionel Messi will be sidelined for around six weeks after tearing a muscle in his left thigh, the club said yesterday.

The Argentina international will miss both legs of his side's Champions League quarter-final at the start of April, up to seven Primera Liga matches and the return leg of the King's Cup semi-final against Valencia.

Messi sustained the injury just before half-time in Tuesday's 1-0 Champions League win over Celtic at Camp Nou on Tuesday.

It is the fourth time in the last three years that the 20-year-old has suffered a similar injury and he was sidelined for five weeks earlier this season with the same problem.