5 instances when Lionel Messi lost his temper on the pitch

#4 Verbal confrontation with Malaga defender Weligton

Messi abused Weligton as the defender grasped his throat and pushed him away

Barcelona’s historic second treble under Luis Enrique in the 2014/15 season was mainly down to the flawless performances of the Catalans in the second half of their campaign. However, life in the initial stages wasn’t that smooth as Barca endured few rough outcomes in their quest to secure the La Liga title. One such stumbling block was presented in the form of Malaga.

Barca visited Estadio La Rosaleda in search of three points which would keep them level on points against arch-rivals Real Madrid who were sitting at the top of the table. But Malaga had other plans as they frustrated Messi and co. Barcelona failed to find the back of the net and ultimately lost the match 1-0, thus suffering a setback in the title race.

And on a disappointing night for the Catalans, Messi ended up grabbing the wrong headlines after Malaga defender Weligton accused the Argentine maestro of calling him a ‘son of a bi***’. Weligton responded by grabbing Messi by the throat and pushing him backward for which he received a yellow card.

It appeared that the defender did try to initiate contact with a minor shoulder-to-shoulder bump but when asked about the incident he said, “A minute before, Messi tried to play a one-two, I tried to block him with my arm.

“He thought I caught him in the face, but it was by accident. You can see from the images. He got angry and came at me, calling me a ‘son of a bi***’. That was when I caught him by the throat.”