Football fights: 5 times Lionel Messi has got into a fight on a football pitch. The Argentine ace has made news for being involved in two bust ups in 4 days.
When one thinks of Messi, the image that comes into one’s mind is of a calm man with a monk like patience. However, the Argentinian has had his own share of controversies. Recently, he has been involved in spats with Brazilian coach and player Tite and Thiago Silva and Uruguayan Edinson Cavani as well.
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He was seen shushing the Brazilian coach when he was complaining to the referee to get the Argentine Skipper a yellow card. Thiago Silva also accused the Barcelona superstar of influencing the referees. Yesterday, he got into an altercation with Edinson Cavani. The pair were reported to have a tunnel fight and had to be separated by Luis Suarez.
However, this isn’t the only time that Lionel Messi has thrown hands on the pitch. As it turns out, even patience has its own limits. Let us look at the 5 football fights Lionel Messi has been a part of.
Squabble with Bolivia players (2016)
Argentina vs Bolivia in the Copa America was a mismatch of epic proportions. The match ended 3-0 in Argentina’s favour. Argentina ran rampant boasting 82% of the possession while completing 757 passes in comparison to Bolivia’s measly 61.
Lionel Messi made a second half appearance as a substitute and despite not scoring a goal, he became the talking point of the match. The Argentine did not react very well to being fouled by Jhasmani Campos and squared up to him.
With the involvement of other players, the argument soon grew in numbers. After the match the Bolivian winger claimed that Messi was being disrespectful to his team:
“He came on to make fun of us, a player of his talent should not be doing what he did. He carried out some unnecessary moves to make fun of my team-mates and that is not on. But it’s over, he is the best player in the world and Argentina are a great team, and I hope they do really well.”
Fight with Bolivia’s Ronald Raldes (2011)
The spat in the 2016 Copa America was not the first time Lionel Messi had squared up to a player from Bolivia. That distinction goes to Ronald Raldes. The Bolivian defender became a cult hero after going toe to toe with the Argentinean ace.
Argentina and Bolivia played out a 1-1 draw. A frustrated Messi, looking for a win, got into an argument with Raldes after being blocked away from the ball. He then proceeded to go head-to-head against the centre-back, while saying a few words with his hand over his mouth, before his teammates intervened.
Bolivian fans flocked to social media sites to praise Raldes and his set-to with Messi. The Chilean media also got in on the act with La Cuarta daily suggesting that “Bolivian defender Ronald Raldesis more popular than (President) Evo Morales,” who attended the game as a big football fan.
Slamming Croatia defender Ivan Strinic’s foot (2018 world cup)
Argentina and Lionel Messi had a forgettable night when Croatia beat them 3-0 in the 2018 world cup. However, no point can sum up his frustrations more than when 30 minutes to full time, Messi was tripped by Ivan Strinic while the striker was escaping with the ball in a bid to create attack. There were a few words of exchange between the two and then in frustration before Messi slammed the foot of Strinic.
After the match, the defender told reporters,
“Messi? He has this image where he pretends to be nice and humble but he’s totally the opposite, not only did he hit me, but when his friend (Ivan Rakitic) was down injured he refused to kick the ball out despite being the captain. Really a small guy!”
Fight with referee on Paulo Dybala debut
Paulo Dybala’s first match ended rather quickly after being sent off with a red card. Lionel Messi did not take the incident well. Messi himself was sent off with a red card on his debut and it must have triggered him because he then blamed the decision entirely on the Chilean referee Julio Bascunan and gave the match official a piece of his mind both after the decision and at half-time.
Messi was incredibly lucky to have evaded a yellow card himself. However, that was the least of his worries. He wanted Dybala to be well. After the match Dybala said:
“It was an ugly moment, because it was a special day and it didn’t go how I hoped. I was left with a sensation in the chest that I’ve never had before.
Leo Messi told me to be calm, that these things happen, that it was not my fault but the referee’s. I felt good, comfortable playing with Messi.
El Clasico Clash with Sergio Ramos (2019)
It is no secret that the El Classico played between Barcelona and Real Madrid are heated clashes with both players giving their all on the pitch. However, Sergio Ramos took the rivalry to a whole different level when he elbowed Lionel Messi towards the end of first half.
The two stars then went head to head before the referee broke the fight between the two. Messi would later show the referee that his teeth bled due to the challenge from Ramos. However, the Real Madrid skipper was not punished.
Former Real Madrid manager even speculated that perhaps Ramos had deliberately hit Messi to spark life into his struggling side. However, Ramos denied that was the case although Spanish teammate was quick to put the entire blame on Ramos.
AS Roma Joan Camper (2015)
While Ramos was lucky to escape without being shown a yellow, Messi was himself very lucky to avoid a Red card after appearing to aim a headbutt at a Roma defender during a bad-tempered pre-season ‘friendly’ at the Nou Camp.
Messi has only been shown the red card twice in his entire career. However, he is yet to get one while putting on a Barcelona shirt. He did come incredibly close during their 3-0 win over AS Roma in the Joan Gamper trophy.
Messi reacted angrily after being confronted by Yanga-Mbiwa, and seemed to push his head into the former Newcastle player’s face before attempting to grab him by the throat.
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