Lionel Messi officially faced a two-match ban
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi was in the spotlight last weekend, regarding the first red card he received while defending the Catalan giants. The direct red card not only made Messi expelled from the match but also received a two-match sanction.
For information, Barcelona previously faced Atheltic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup final. The match itself lasted for 120 minutes after the two teams drew 2-2 at Normal time.
In the extra half of 2×15 minutes, Athletic Bilbao managed to score an additional goal which made Barcelona have to bury the first trophy dream under the direction of Ronald Koeman.
But apart from that failure, there are other things that are more highlighted, namely the red card of the captain, Lionel Messi.
The Argentine received a straight red card from the referee, after it was obvious he had hit an opposing player who tried to stop his movement in a Barcelona attack situation.
The referee initially escaped the incident, but after watching VAR, the court gave Messi a red card directly. Well, usually incidents of violations like Messi can generally have long tails, can be banned from playing in the next 6-12 matches.
Fortunately, the RFEF and match officials decided that Messi’s actions did not show any aggressiveness. This means that the standard penalty can be given, which is a maximum of three matches.
As quoted by Goal Spain, the decision was taken by Carmen Perez as President of the competition committee. Perez listened to Barca’s defense arguments and felt a two-match penalty was enough.
Yes, in other words, Lionel Messi must accept being sanctioned in the form of a ban from playing in the next two matches, each of which is a match against Cornella in the Copa Del Rey and against Elche in the Spanish La Liga event.
Messi can breathe a sigh of relief because he can play again on January 31, which is unique again against Bilbao, this time in La Liga. Meanwhile, on the one hand, the Barcelona players did not seem confident in seeing the results of the last few matches.
However, Ronald Koeman’s troops must win immediately to restore their confidence.