Barcelona's Lionel Messi Subbed off vs. Villarreal with Groin Injury

Barcelona have been dealt another apparent injury blow, as Lionel Messi was substituted at half time against Villarreal on Tuesday.

Per ESPN FC, Messi looked to have suffered a groin issue in the first period and was later replaced by Ousmane Dembele:

Per Sport, the forward received lengthy treatment on the field:

However, Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde said after the game "it doesn’t seem to be anything more than discomfort in his adductor and we made the change as a precaution," per Ben Hayward of the Manchester Evening Standard.

Messi, who won the FIFA Men's Best Player award on Monday, will be a major loss for Valverde's side if he does end up sidelined for another spell.

The club legend missed the beginning of the campaign—the match against Villarreal was his first start of the season—and Barca suffered as a result:

The 32-year-old Argentinian's return in front of goal remains simply staggering:

Not only is there no player in Barca's squad who can adequately replace Messi, there is arguably no player on the planet who could do so.

That being said, Barca do have some other impressive attacking options, and the likes of Dembele, Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann will need to step up in Messi's absence.

Ansu Fati, 16, will also potentially be used to cover for Messi after enjoying some breakout performances early in 2019-20.