Did Weligton Oliveira deserve a red card for grabbing Lionel Messi and pushing him down?

Weligton Oliviera grabs Lionel Messi’s face before pushing him away

When Barcelona played Malaga in a midweek La Liga match at La Rosaleda Stadium on Wednesday night, the game ended 0-0 with both teams getting a point – the first time the Catalan club dropped points this season.

But the biggest talking point of the game, apart from Barcelona failing to have a shot on target for the first time in a La Liga game since 2003/04, was a tussle between Malaga’s Weligton Oliviera and Lionel Messi.

Oliviera squeezed Messi’s cheeks before angrily pushing him away as Messi fell to the ground protesting.

The Malaga defender in turn has accused Messi of calling him a ‘bas****’ or a ‘son of a b****’ which he cites as a provocation.

But was this sort of physical reaction warranted in a game where tempers always bring the worst out of players? Oliviera only got a yellow card for pushing Messi.

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