Diego Maradona has joked that he would’ve punched Lionel Messi had he been on the pitch when the Barcelona forward passed it to Luis Suarez to score. The Messi-Suarez penalty has gone down in infamy, with many expressing various opinions about it, although Maradona probably trumps everyone with his declaration.
The Argentine World Cup winner was answering questions on Fox Sports TV Show, 90 Minutes, and fielded questions on a variety of topics. Maradona was particularly jocular when discussing Messi’s tandem penalty with Suarez, saying “If I'd have been on the pitch for Messi's indirect penalty, there would have been punches thrown, regardless of whether it was the A, the B, the C or the D division, for sure there would have been punches thrown.”
One need not imagine what the sight of Maradona throwing punches and kicks looks like, as the incredible footage of the fracas between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid caould give us a nice preview:
Maradona was quite obviously joking, however, and will also have noted that the penalty against Celta Vigo, with the score at 3-1, was planned as a tribute to Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff who was Maradona’s predecessor at Barcelona.
Maradona would have loved to play in current Barcelona
Barcelona, who are fresh of a record-breaking 5-1 win over Rayo Vallecano that extended their unbeaten run to 35 games, are nailed on favourites to win La Liga and the Champions League. Maradona, who played for the Blaugrana from 1982-1984, would elevate any team in the world, and the mouth waters at considering a Maradona at his prime dovetailing with Messi.
With Messi, Suarez and Neymar running circles around the defences of world football, Maradona revealed his admiration, saying he “would have liked to have played in this Barcelona team,” although the Argentine’s competitive nature took over as he said he would have loved to “have beaten them too”.
The Albiceleste legend surprisingly tipped Barcelona’s forward Neymar Jr. to emulate Lionel Messi, insisting that the Brazilian is “on course for the Ballon d'Or”. Given he cannot play with the current trio, Maradona would surely have loved to manage them, although Luis Enrique will be hard to displace.
The Argentine revealed that he’s given up on his dreams to manage hometown club Boca Juniors, saying “My dream of managing Boca is over. I didn't talk to (Daniel) Angelici about becoming coach. Guillermo (Barros Schelotto) will do a great job in charge.”
