The last time Filipe Luis and Lionel Messi met, the Atletico Madrid defender was sent off for an awful tackle on the Argentine en route to a 2-1 defeat at Camp Nou in January.
Although the Brazilian left-back admits that he full deserved his marching orders in the clash with the Blaugrana, the former Chelsea man has blasted the media and La Liga for protecting the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
La Pulga is considered by many to be the best player in Spanish Primera Division – if not in the world – history, as he the 28-year-old is Liga BBVA’s all-time leading scorer and the 1st player to net 300 goals.
Nonetheless, Luis believes that the Argentine superstar’s high-profile status in Spain has earned him preferential treatment from the Liga BBVA media coverage and the league itself.
Speaking to TV Esporte Interativo, as per Football Espana, the 30-year-old Rojiblancos defender said:
”I admit it was a red card, the referee wasn't wrong. I sought the ball but very aggressively, with a high foot, and Leo was there. It was a fair red, I left the pitch, served a ban and that's it.
“It's a phase of play which happens in every game, but it happened on Messi. He's protected by the Press and by the League. I believe they don't want one of their best players of all time to be injured and not play.
“Still, I slept easily because I didn’t want to hurt him at any time. [On the rematch], I approach every game with the same intensity and try not to be so aggressive in games like these. Many players enter the pitch just to change shirts, but I don't. If you give Messi a metre, he’ll snatch the ball and leave you behind. My objective is to be intense so he can't do anything.”
WATCH: Filipe Luis gets sent off for horrible tackle on Messi
Luis was handed a three-game ban for his tackle on Leo, one of which saw Diego Simeone’s crew drop two points in a 0-0 draw with Villarreal.
Atletico now trail the league leaders by a whopping 8 points with only 10 games remaining in this season.
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