'That foul you did, that’s because I nutmegged you': James Milner reveals Lionel Messi called him a donkey after brutal tackle

Leo Messi could get pretty angry if he's being kicked around on the pitch, as revealed by James Milner back in 2019.

That year, Barcelona and Liverpool faced each other in the Champions League semi-final. During the first leg at Camp Nou, Milner clattered Messi on the touchline.

the pair repeatedly came to blows during the first half, and Messi was not letting it go during the break either.

"He wasn’t happy," Milner told the Daily Mail. "He was giving me plenty in Spanish going down the tunnel at half-time as well.

"He was calling me ‘burro’. It translates as donkey but I think it’s also used in Spanish football as a general term for someone who goes around kicking people.

"I asked him if he was all right, but he wasn’t having it. I don’t think he realised I understood his Spanish. He said: 'That foul you did, that’s because I nutmegged you'.

"I left him to it at that point and went into the changing room. Look, I’ve only got admiration for him. He has earned the right to say what he wants."

It looks as if Messi remembered how he embarrassed Milner back in 2015 when the then Man City player went viral after being nutmegged by the Argentinian.

"The stuff he did in that game, stuff he has done his whole career, it makes him tough to play against," Milner admitted.

"If you try and stop him, you can’t be scared of being made to look foolish. I’ve done it. I’ve been nutmegged by him and it has been viewed a million times.

"I wasn’t the first and I won’t be the last. He’s an incredible player.

"But with players like that, you have to let them know you’re there and not let them have everything their own way.

"You just need to try to disrupt their rhythm. You don’t want to hurt him but it’s a physical game and, if he’s running the game, you try and knock him out of his stride. It’s part of the game, the mental side."

Source: Daily Mail