Lionel Messi headbutted and grabbed the throat of Roma defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa on Wednesday night, but only saw a yellow card.
By Connor Orchard
Not too long after Lionel Messi assisted Neymar’s goal, the Barcelona star had a run-in with 26-year-old Roma defender Yanga-Mbiwa, but it wasn’t just a simple exchange of words. Messi actually headbutted Yanga-Mbiwa and then grabbed him by the throat for good measure, and somehow only saw a yellow card.
An act like that isn’t something that officials take lightly and 11 times out of 10 that would get you sent off, it doesn’t matter whether the game is in a World Cup Final, a Champions League Final, or in Messi’s case, a simple Pre-Season Friendly.
If this was another player who is known to be more aggressive on the pitch such as Diego Costa, or Pepe, then you could bet your life on it that they would be sent off, as they are known to have more of a reputation for that kind of thing, and are seen as the ‘Bad Guys’ because of it.
But because Messi is arguably the best player in the world and doesn’t have a reputation for that kind of thing, does that mean he should be let off the hook? No. It was a ridiculous thing to get caught up into, and Messi should have definitely seen red for what he did.
Count your lucky stars Leo, because that was definitely a straight red card.
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