Lionel Messi flies back to Barcelona after exacerbating groin injury

Lionel Messi will return to Barcelona after exacerbating a groin injury in his comeback game for Argentina against Uruguay. He will miss the next match against Venezuela. The 29-year-old scored the only goal as Argentina beat Uruguay 1-0 in his comeback game after the forward announced his retirement following their failure to win the Copa America.

The Mirror reports that Messi has boarded a flight back to Barcelona after being unable to make the squad list for the game.

Messi had suffered the injury when playing against Barcelona and will now receive treatment at the club, with Champions League action on the horizon. The Catalan club have been drawn in what is arguably the group of death for the Spanish club, with the likes of Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach. Messi, following his return to international football, revealed that the decision he made then was after being overcome with emotion and reconsidered his stance after talking to everyone involved.

"My groin is hurting a lot, from before this match," Messi said after the game. "We'll see [if I'll be fit.] I always want to be [in the team] but there are also a lot of important matches coming up.

"I am very grateful for all the love that I received [after saying that I was going to retire]. But I did not lie to anybody when I retired, I felt that. I had a conversation with the Paton [Bauza] and the people as well accompanied me through it. I had to return. I feel very happy to be here again," he added on his decision to retire. "This group always responds in the most complicated moments. It was important to start this new era with a win."