Former Barcelona midfielder Xavi has defended Lionel Messi over allegations that he receives special treatment from referees.
Atletico Madrid’s Filipe Luiz accused the Argentinian of play-acting after the defender was sent off during Barcelona’s win over Atletico in January. The Brazilian defender later claimed that Messi receives “special treatment” from referees and the media.
But former team-mate Xavi has refuted those claims and said the Barcelona superstar is an honest player who never cheats.
“Messi is a good person,” Xavi told beIN SPORTS.
“He is always nice, he is honest and he does not cheat. He has never disrespected anyone on the pitch, his behaviour is exemplary. He is a humble guy, who is very professional and hates to lose.
"He is the best player in the world in all aspect, I told him to get more involved and now he does it naturally. He is addicted to the ball, he is sad when he cannot play.”
Luis was shown a straight red card during for a sliding challenge on Messi during Atletico’s 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in January and was handed a three-match ban which was reduced to one match after he appealed.
But the Brazilian was clearly frustrated by what he believed was an exaggeration by Messi and took to TV in March to vent his frustration.
“I was not late, I went after the ball. Now that type of play happens during every match, but because it was with Messi and because here he is the darling of the media and La Liga, obviously no one wants to see one of the best players of all time taken out. No one wants to miss a chance to see him play and that is why all of this happened.”
While the league committee initially stated that Luis would receive a three-match ban because of the “special seriousness of the action”, the ban was later reduced to one match.
Following the comments made by Luis, La Liga president Javier Tebas also took to the media to defend the league.
“For us , all the players are protected in La Liga,” he told AS.com.
“We don’t differentiate between Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo or a player from Rayo Vallecano. We are creating a global league and the big and small clubs all matter to us.”
