Fans react to Messi, Felix bust up in Spanish Super Cup semis
Joao Felix squared up to Lionel Messi in a furious on-pitch bust up – with fans joking the Portuguese youngster wound him up by saying “Cristiano Ronaldo is better”.
The pair clashed at the end of a feisty first-half in the Spanish Super Cup game between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in Saudi Arabia.
Felix and Messi exchanged verbals, got up in each other’s face and even gave a little bit of a shove in the fiery game in the Middle East – won 3-2 by Atleti.
Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez and Stefan Savic were also involved in a brawl as tempers flared.
The spat was ignited with the first-half seconds away from being over and the score locked at 0-0 – with Felix taking exception to being poked in the face by Alba.
Felix lashed out at the Barcelona left-back, swiping his arm away – before Messi menacingly approached him.
Despite going head-to-head with a legend of world football, £113million man Felix stood his ground and even gave the Argentine superstar a little push for his troubles.
As things threatened to get out of hand, Atletico defender Renan Lodi intervened, guiding Messi towards the changing rooms.
But the scrap appeared to light a fire under both teams as they played out a thrilling second-half.
Koke gave Atletico the lead within the first minutes of the second half, before goals from Messi and Antoine Griezmann put Barca 2-1 just after the hour-mark.
Former Chelsea flop Alvaro Morata scored an 81st-minute penalty to level the scores – before Angel Correa sealed a superb victory for Los Rojiblancos with four minutes to play.
But fans on Twitter were more focused on the bust-up between Messi and Felix – and what may or may not have been said – than the game itself.
One speculated: “Joao Felix: ‘Cristiano Ronaldo is better than you.’
“Leo Messi: ‘I dare you to say that again, I dare you!'”
Another joked: “Joao Felix: ‘I have more international trophies than you.'”
Read Also: Spanish Super Cup: Messi blames Barca teammates of childish mistakes in semi-final defeat
A third even poked fun of Barcelona’s dramatic Champions League loss to Liverpool last season – where the Spaniards threw away a three-goal first-leg lead.
Taking the mick out of Barca conceding from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s quick piece of thinking, they said: “Stop Lying, Joao Felix only said ‘Corner taken quickly’.”
Joao Felix: "Cristiano Ronaldo is better than you."
Leo Messi: "I dare you to say that again, I dare you!"pic.twitter.com/vNeID2A1tb
— TeamCRonaldo (@TeamCRonaldo) January 9, 2020
Joao Felix: "I have more international trophies than you."
— Steve (@Steveonomics) January 9, 2020
Stop Lying, Joao Felix only said "Corner taken sharply"
— Oreo of Lagos 🍫 (@HeisLauren) January 9, 2020