Barcelona playmaker Lionel Messi will miss at least the next two games due to the ankle injury he sustained against Atletico Madrid last night.

Messi was stretchered off following a late challenge by Tomas Ujfalusi in the 2-1 win at the Vicente Calderon, an incident that saw the Atletico defender sent off.

Initial tests last night revealed ankle ligament damage to Messi's right ankle but no break, and that was today confirmed after the Argentina international underwent an MRI scan at the Hospital de Barcelona.

According to Barca's official website Messi will miss this week's matches against Sporting Gijon on Wednesday and Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, and it will then depend on how his injury improves as to when he will be available to coach Pep Guardiola.

Barca play Rubin Kazan in the Champions League on Wednesday, September 29