Clan-Members » rom the IPL. Playing a lot of back-to-

MADRID -- Looking desolate, Lionel Messi sat on the ground and slowly began rolling down his socks, knowing his night was over. Barcelona fans in the stands could not hide their apprehension, sensing the teams biggest star was in trouble.Messi had just pulled a muscle in Barcelonas 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou on Wednesday, and tests showed he will be sidelined for three weeks with a groin strain.Although the injury leaves Barcelona facing the difficult task of playing without the star midfielder, it has no need to panic. The Catalan club has coped extremely well recently when playing without Messi, who was out for nearly two months last year with a knee injury.In the nine games he missed from September through November, Barcelona won seven, drawing one and losing another -- a 2-1 defeat at Sevilla. Coach Luis Enriques team outscored opponents 21-6 as Neymar and Luis Suarez stepped up to make up for their teammates absence. The two scored 18 goals between them with Messi sidelined.Last year, Messi had an even longer injury and we overcame it, said Luis Enrique, whose team still went on to win the Spanish league.Messi wont play in at least three games -- at Sporting Gijon and Celta Vigo in the Spanish league, and at Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Champions League. He is certain to miss Argentinas World Cup qualifiers against Peru on Oct. 6 and Paraguay on Oct. 11.We try to take care of him, but its complicated with this calendar, Luis Enrique said.The coach said Barcelona will remain strong enough without Messi but admitted that he will have to look for different solutions.The midfielder, who got hurt while sprinting for the ball in the 58th minute, was replaced by Arda Turan, who will be the likely starter in the next three games. Turan had also played when Neymar was away with Brazil during the Summer Olympics.Luis Enrique could also replace Messi with midfielder Rafinha, giving more freedom up front to Neymar and Suarez, or with newly signed forward Paco Alcacer, which would change the teams tactics. The coach may also pick between midfielders Denis Suarez and Andre Gomes.Barcelona trails Real Madrid by three points after five rounds in the Spanish league. It leads Group C in the Champions League thanks to its 7-0 rout of Celtic in the opener on Sept. 13 -- a game in which Messi scored three goals.If Messi recovers within the timeframe given by the team, he will be back in time for the highly anticipated Champions League match against Manchester City on Oct. 19.Messi had already endured similar injury problems earlier this season. He hurt a muscle while playing for Barcelona in the Spanish league and had a groin problem that kept him from playing for Argentina in a World Cup qualifier.He has scored eight goals with Barcelona this season.---Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/tales-azzoniFake Jordans . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Fake Shoes . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. Sagbo did well to control Sone Alukos right cross and fire past Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan. Aluko was making his first start in four months after recovering from an Achilles injury. http://www.fakeshoesforsale.com/ . JOHNS, N. Fake Shoes Website .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Fake Shoes For Sale . "We have always prided ourselves on the way we play defence. Having two big pieces back is going to be a key for us moving forward for years to come," said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen.Australia captain Steven Smith will miss the remainder of the tour of Sri Lanka - three ODIs and two T20Is - as he returns home to rest ahead of the tour of South Africa. David Warner will lead the side in the rest of the fixtures in Sri Lanka. Smith revealed the development at the end of the second ODI in Colombo, which Sri Lanka won by 82 runs to level the five-match series at 1-1.I hate missing cricket, but in the long run it will do me a world of good, Smith was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia on Twitter. The schedule is very busy. I still want to take on the role in all three formats and do it to the best of my ability.Australia have lost four of their five international fixtures on tour so far, but Smith suggested his early departure had been considered since much earlier in the tour. Australias last match in Sri Lanka is a T20 international on September 9. Their tour of South Africa begins on September 27 with an ODI against Ireland in Benoni, after which they play five ODIs against South Africa.We spoke about it at the start of the Test series, Smith said. There is the South Africa series next, and a big summer with six Test matches and a few one-dayers against New Zealand in between, before we go to India. So it was talked about - to try and give me a little break at some point. We had a few discussions - myself, Darren Lehmann and Rod Marsh, who also consulted with the other selectors. It took a bit of convincing to get me over the line.Smith, who is Australias captain across all formats, said the role remained manageable despite the teams busy schedule. He has captained in 42 international matches -- including in 11 Tests - over the past year, in addition to playing in the IPL, most recently for Rising Pune Supergiants.dddddddddddd He did not rule out taking his break from cricket during the IPL, but was quick to suggest the tournament was a valuable experience.For me, Ive got a lot of time for the IPL, he said. I think its been a great learning curve for me. I think Ive learned a lot about the way I play, particularly white-ball cricket, from the IPL. Playing a lot of back-to-back games I think you learn a lot about yourself as a player. Ive certainly got a lot of time for the IPL in that respect. But captaining Australia is a lot of hard work and takes a lot of time. At some point, maybe it could give. For now, I want to continue trying to play everything that I can.Cricket Australias national selector Rod Marsh said in a statement: Steve has a large amount of cricket coming up in the next 12 months and we wanted to find a time for him to freshen up and these last five matches provide a good opportunity to do so.Regardless of the results of the first two matches our plan was always for Steve to take a break and refresh ahead of the ODI Series against South Africa next month.Smiths replacement Warner has not captained Australia in any format, and now takes charge in a tour in which he has been in indifferent form.This is a great leadership opportunity for David, he has really embraced his role as vice-captain and we are confident he will do a great job in Steves place, Marsh said. ' ' '