Barcelona captain Lionel Messi hit out at referee Jaime Latre at half time in their 1-0 La Liga win over Real Valladolid.
Ousmane Dembele’s 90th minute strike secured a crucial win for Ronald Koeman’s hosts to move them to within a single point of league leaders Atletico Madrid.
However, on a tense night in Catalonia, Messi was incensed with the referee’s performance at the break.
The 33-year old claiming ‘he (Latre) wants to give me a card……incredible’, hinting at a deliberate attempt to invoke a suspension for this weekend’s El Clasico trip to Real Madrid, as per reports from Diario AS.
Messi on the referee of the match pic.twitter.com/L1ZfqALrvA#BarçaValladolid
— Maria (@ma_i7i) April 5, 2021
Messi avoided picking up his fifth league caution of the 2020/21 campaign and he will now face Los Blancos alongside fellow suspension risk Frenkie De Jong.
With nine games of the season remaining Barcelona could overtake Atletico Madrid with a win over their age old rivals, who themselves trail Los Rojiblancos by three points.
Image via Diario AS
Messi were so special