The Argentine has been trending on social media since he won the Ballon d’Or after beating his closest competitors Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr. He further made headlines in the media after a brief altercation with Espanyol defender Alvaro, during their second leg Copa del Rey fixture on Wednesday night. Barcelona won the match 2-0 to guarantee a place in the quarter finals but despite the easy win, Messi was trending for a rather peculiar reason.
The 28-year-old, who rarely gets involved in quarrels and misunderstandings with his opponents on the pitch, found himself in a strange situation when Alvaro allegedly mocked him for being ''short.’’
In the second half, the 26-year-old Spanish defender took a hard tackle on Leo and after that, a silent war of words ensued, which lasted less than five seconds.Catalunya radio claimed that (as reported by Sport), Alvaro told Messi:
''You are very short’’
And the Barcelona star responded:
''And you are very bad (in terms of football).’’
Images from the match clearly showed that the two indeed exchanged words.
Watch the silent exchange of words between the two rivals in the Catalan derby
- Alvaro : « Bajito » (T’es un nain) - Messi : « Y tu muy malo » (Et toi t’es nul) pic.twitter.com/r1mTXfnpsI
— Insolite-Foot (@InsoliteFoot) January 14, 2016
Additionally, Alvaro also confirmed the incident during a post-match interview. He said:
“I told Messi he’s really small and he replied you’re really bad. We’re both right.”
Here is how football fans Twitter reacted to the incident:
The moment when you realize that Álvaro's biggest moment as a player is probably Messi telling him that he's bad at football.
— Sergi Domínguez (@FutbolSergi) January 13, 2016
Alvaro who the HELLLLLL do you think you are. If you injure Messi, not even your mother will forgive you.
— BarcaBlaugranes (@BlaugranesBarca) January 13, 2016
Dis Alvaro guy is funny, he 4gt messi jst won Ballon D Or
— Saphy Ibrahim (@Iam_Saphy) January 13, 2016
Now, Alvaro Gonzalez, someone I don't even know wants to injure Messi.
— Preciy™ (@BarcaLens) January 13, 2016
Alvaro is getting emabrassed by messi and in turn fouls him twice, disgusting
— derp (@AlternateFusion) January 13, 2016