Lionel Messi was not happy with Sergio Ramos’ roughhousing
Messi and Ramos were involved in a training row. © Twitter
You can take them out of Spain but the Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry is living on in Paris, if the video footage of Lionel Messi scowling at his longtime rival-turned-teammate Sergio Ramos is to be believed.
Messi, who traded Barcelona for the French capital last year, and Spanish legend Ramos were central to the El Clasico rivalry between the La Liga’s two most successful football clubs for well over a decade.
But the pair were forced to set aside their differences a summer ago when both arrived in France after incredibly successful spells at the clubs at which they made their names.
Judging by footage which has gone viral online in the wake of PSG’s 6-2 preseason hammering of Japanese side Gamba Osaka, some of the testiness remains between the two superstars.
The brief clip shows the duo on opposite teams during a training exercise, with Ramos clipping Messi’s heels as he runs through on goal. The Argentine icon initially doesn’t react as he approaches the goal and fires the ball into the back of the net but soon after turns to Ramos and, well, if looks could kill…
Messi angry and arguing with Ramos after he tackled Messi hard in training 😬 pic.twitter.com/dMRXDqzHEU
— Xabhi ✪ (@FCB_Lad) July 24, 2022
The Spaniard doesn’t raise the stakes though and offers his teammate a conciliatory pat on the head for his troubles.
The two PSG teammates, brought together by fate, have a long history. In 2010, Ramos was sent off while playing for Real Madrid for a gruesome tackle from behind on Messi – something which prompted the usually cool-headed former Barca skipper Carles Puyol to remonstrate with his international teammate Ramos.
In the 2016-17 campaign, Ramos was again issued with his marching orders after an El Clasico two-footed tackle on Messi.
The two enemies-turned-allies looked to have mended fences by the time the game kicked off, however, with PSG routing the Japanese team 6-2 in a game in which Messi was among the goalscorers.
Neymar during a preseason game in Japan 😬(via @CBSSportsGolazo)pic.twitter.com/1VUHLEcDcp
— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 25, 2022
Fantasma? 😂😂😂 ge sendo ge … tocou é pênalti! Bando de gente que nunca se quer chutou uma bola e fica fazendo matéria de merda 😂🤦🏽♂️
— Neymar Jr (@neymarjr) July 25, 2022
So too was Neymar, the world’s most expensive footballer who has been tentatively linked with a transfer away from PSG this summer.
But anyone who breaks the bank to sign the Brazilian star will have to contend with the newspaper headlines which accompany his every move – the latest of which are being centered around a ‘dive’ that Neymar is alleged to have performed during the game.
The player, though, wasn’t accepting much of the scrutiny which came his way after the match however.
After he was accusing by Brazilian outfit Ge of playacting from what they referred to as a ‘ghost’ challenge, he responded in kind.
“Ghost?” he bemoaned on Twitter. “Ge being Ge … it’s a penalty! Bunch of people who never want to kick a ball and keep doing shit.”
