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What's the story?
Barcelona star Lionel Messi has revealed that his son Mateo is a Real Madrid fan, also claiming that the three-year-old cheers when Madrid scores, to irritate his brother Thiago.
In case you didn't know...
Lionel Messi was in superb form throughout the recently concluded 2018/19 campaign. The Blaugrana captain has consistently proved that he is head and shoulders above his rivals.
Messi ended the 2018/19 season by achieving unprecedented individual success as he won the 'Pichichi' award and the European Golden Shoe for his 36 goals in the league. The 31-year-old bagged 51 goals across all competitions in the 2018/19 campaign and helped the Catalan giants retain the LaLiga title.
Messi also ended the campaign as the top scorer in the Champions League in 2018/19 with 12 goals. But he was not able to guide the Blaugrana to European glory as they suffered a shock exit in the semi-final stages against Liverpool.
The heart of the matter
The five time Ballon d'Or winner has revealed that his son Mateo teases his father about his recent defeats from time to time.
Speaking in an interview with TYC Sports, Messi said:
"Thiago never misses a match. Mateo loves football, he wears all the shirts. We were playing at home and he said to me, 'I'm Liverpool, who beat you'; 'Valencia won, eh - I'm Valencia'.
"The TV is there, and he cheers Madrid's goals to annoy his brother. He's the one who is a Madrid fan."
Messi also admitted that it is hard for him to leave his family when being called up for Argentina.
"It's hard to leave them, more and more so. The call-ups are more difficult for me every time. I suffer being so far away from them."
What's next?
Messi will captain Argentina for the upcoming Copa America in Brazil.
They are set to take on Nicaragua in a friendly on 8 June before they turn their focus on Copa America, where they face Columbia in their first fixture on 16 June.
