Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza criticised Barcelona for the way the club have been managing Lionel Messi's workload.
The 29-year-old suffered a hamstring tear in the adductor of his right thigh during Barcelona's 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid in their La Liga clash on 21 September, according to the club's official website.
Messi has been sidelined for three weeks and will now miss upcoming La Liga games against Sporting Gijon and Celta Vigo and Champions League tie against Borussia Monchengladbach before the international break. Messi is also likely to sit out of Argentina's 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Paraguay in October.
Notably, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner came back from international retirement and helped Bauza's Argentina beat Uruguay 1-0 in the World Cup qualifier. However, after suffering a groin injury in the game on 1 September, Messi was forced to miss his country's next game against Venezuela.
Luis Enrique, who was undecided about playing Messi for Barcelona's La Liga clash against Alaves on 10 September, used the forward as a second-half substitute only to see his side lose the tie 2-1. Since then Messi has played in three consecutive matches for the Spanish side.
Bauza is worried that Barcelona play Messi in all their games amid his injury concerns. He maintained that he is concerned about resuming the World Cup qualifiers campaign without his go-to-man.
"Barcelona always sends us messages saying that we must take care of Messi, but they don't take care of him very well," Bauza told Fox Sports, as quoted by ESPN.
"It is strange that they make him play in all their matches.
"We received the official report from Barcelona. To us, that seems strange because three weeks is not enough time to repair a torn adductor.
"I am thinking that Messi is not going to be able to play in the qualifiers. But we hope that it is nothing serious and that in three weeks he returns to action."
