Lionel Messi Kicks Ball Towards Referee In Rage During Alaves Vs Barcelona - Avoids A Red Card

Lionel Messi booted the ball towards referee Alejandro Hernandez during Barcelona's 1-1 draw with Alaves last night and was lucky to escape a red card.

Messi hasn't enjoyed the best of starts to this season and as a result, it's seen Barcelona struggle in La Liga.

They're currently on a four game winless run and Messi let his frustration boil over when Neto's mistake in goal allowed Alaves to go 1-0 up.

Frenkie de Jong was denied a penalty and Messi a free-kick in quick succession, which saw the 33-year-old narrowly miss Hernandez with his strike.

The six-time Ballon d'Or winner didn't even look at the referee when receiving his yellow card and walked away in a huff.

Fans have reacted to the incident and they think Messi was incredibly lucky to not receive his marching orders.

Barcelona would equalise through Antoine Griezmann in the second half but Ronald Koeman's side couldn't find a winner.

Koeman spoke following the game and admitted he is worried about his side in attack, as they sit in the bottom half.

"I am concerned about the performance up front," he told Marca.

"It is not a matter of attitude or concentration, but of having more success in front of goal.

"It happened to us against Juventus and tonight too. In addition, we have given the goal to Alaves.

"But if we create so many chances, we cannot fail this much. If you create chances and only score one goal, it's not good enough."

Barcelona are already eight points behind bitter rivals Real Madrid at the top of the league.