Messi: “My son celebrates Real Madrid’s goals”

Lionel Messi‘s middle son, Mateo, has found the way to get under the skin of his father and his brother, Thiago.

Mateo celebrates Real Madrid‘s goals to irritate Thiago, whilst also teasing his father, Barcelona‘s captain, when his team loses.

“Mateo likes all the shirt of every team and he wears them,” Messi told TyC Sports.

“But the last time we were playing Play Station, he told me: ‘I’ll choose Liverpool, the ones that defeated you.’

“He understands a little, but he doesn’t realise it yet.

“Just like when we lost against Valencia [and he said]: ‘Valencia defeated you, eehh.’

“Or he watches television and celebrates Real Madrid‘s goals to irritate Thiago.”

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Messi is getting ready to represent Argentina at the Copa America in Brazil, but has played down his country’s chances of winning the tournament.

The 31-year-old has twice reached the final of the competition, in 2015 and the Centenario edition in 2016, but on both occasions they were beaten by Chile on penalties.

Argentina have contested four of the past five finals but have lost all of them, with their last continental triumph coming back in 1993 in Ecuador.

And Messi is not convinced they will be challenging in 2019, as he believes the squad is undergoing a transition.

“We go with the same excitement as always, but the reality is that Argentina is going through a process of change,” he said.

“It’s the first official competition for most of them, but it doesn’t mean Argentina are not going looking for the trophy. We’re not candidates like other times.”

Messi admits his is still feeling the frustration of the end to the club season, with Barcelona having seen their treble dreams dashed in the closing weeks of the campaign.

Although they won La Liga, a shock 4-0 defeat to Liverpool in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final saw them crash out of Europe, while they were beaten 2-1 by Valencia in the final of the Copa del Rey.