Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates his second goal against Zaragoza during their Spanish first division soccer match at La Romadera stadium in Zaragoza. March 21, 2010. [Xinhua/Reuters]

FC Barcelona striker Leo Messi will be out of action for the next three to six weeks after damaging his ankle ligaments in his side's 2-1 win away to Atletico Madrid.

Messi, who scored his side's opening goal, was caught by a nasty challenge from Atletico defender Tomas Ujfalusi as the game went into injury time.

Ujfalusi was shown a red card for the foul, while Messi had to be carried off the pitch on a stretcher. He later left the Vicente Calderon Stadium on crutches.

Barcelona has confirmed that the Argentinean striker has suffered ligament damage on his right ankle, which is currently swollen and inflamed.

The swelling means it is still too early to have an exact idea of how long Messi will be out of action, but early predictions are that he will miss between three and six weeks depending on the seriousness of the injury.

The club hopes to carry out further tests this Monday, but Messi will miss the visit of Sporting Gijon to the Camp Nou this week as well as Barcelona's visit to play Athletic Club Bilbao next Saturday and their Champions League visit to play Copenhagen the following week.