Gloom has descended on Barcelona, despite having cruised through to the last eight of the Champions League, with a new injury setback to live-wire forward Lionel Messi which will see him miss six weeks of the season.

The 20-year-old left the pitch in tears late in the first half of his side's 1-0 win over Celtic on Tuesday with a thigh muscle tear in his left leg, the fourth time the Argentine has suffered this type of injury in the last three seasons.

The fact that Messi's game relies so much on his explosive acceleration has heightened concerns about the latest injury. He was out for five weeks earlier this season with a similar problem in the same leg.

'It is a very sad moment for the player,' said Barca coach Frank Rijkaard. 'The injury is a big blow to all of us and I just hope it isn't as bad as it seems.'

Rijkaard had come under fire from the local media for leaving Messi out of the starting line-up during Saturday's 4-2 defeat at Atletico Madrid and Barca captain Carles Puyol said they were partly to blame for the injury.

'Messi's injury is a lesson to everyone,' he told reporters. 'You pressured for him to play against Celtic and now look what has happened. What you have to do is show more respect for the medical staff and the coach.

'Rijkaard took the decision to rest Leo (against Atletico) at the Calderon because there was a risk of injury. Now I suppose you will be criticising the medical staff because he is injured.'

Midfielder Xavi, who scored the goal that completed Barca's 4-2 aggregate win over the Scots, said the loss of Messi was a serious blow to the club's prospects in both the league and Europe.

'We paid a very high price for this victory,' he said. 'Leo was in fantastic form. It is a real shame.'

Captain Carles Puyol has blamed the Spanish media for Messi's latest injury setback.

'The doctors spoke and said their was a risk of injury and you (the media) put pressure on him to play, saying that he always has to play,' fumed Puyol. 'Now we're all left to regret the decision.

'On Saturday there was more risk than today, but if he hadn't played and we had got a bad result I'm sure you would have said it was because he wasn't on the pitch.

'Leo's injury is bad news, so now let's see what you have to say about that.

'You've got to leave the doctors and physios to do their job because they know more about these things than you do.'

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