Lionel Messi reveals the one time he went out of his way to 'humiliate' opponent during game

Lionel Messi once revealed that he aimed to ‘humiliate’ an opponent during a World Cup match.

Messi, 37, is not known for his aggressive playing style or trash talk and usually does his talking with his feet when on a football pitch.

But one particular footballer got under the Argentinian’s skin so much that Messi admitted that he “ignored him” during a game due to him being “angry”.

The match in question was between Argentina and Poland in Group C at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

And you may be wondering why a Polish player annoyed Messi so much, given the fact Argentina’s main rivals in football are Brazil, Mexico, England and the Netherlands.

Iconic forward Robert Lewandowski was the star of the Polish side, and despite usually coming to life in the final third, he tried to dispossess Messi before offering a friendly hand to the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.

But Messi declined his gesture and swiftly walked away. He later admitted that Lewandowski’s statement following the 2021 Ballon d'Or ceremony – which Messi won – “bothered” him.

Lewandowski, 36, came second in the race for the award despite scoring 40 Bundesliga goals in just 29 games for Bayern Munich during the 2020/21 campaign - breaking Gerd Muller's 49-year record for most goals scored in a calendar year.

Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski jostle at the 2022 World Cup (Credit:Getty)

Messi was quick to praise the Pole when he collected the 2021 Ballon d’Or and even suggested that he should have won it in 2020 when the gong was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Lewandowski described Messi’s statement as “empty words”.

"I would like it [Messi's 2020 Ballon d'Or statement] to be a sincere and courteous statement from a great player and not just an empty words,” Lewandowski told Kanale Sportowym via Marca in 2021.

A year later, the great Argentinian gave his thoughts and revealed how he deliberately dribbled at Lewandowski during the World Cup.

"Lewandowski's statement in 2021 bothered me because when I won the Ballon d'Or, I said what I really felt,” Messi told ESPN in December 2022.

"I ignored him during the game because it was him, and I was angry and thought he shouldn't have said what he said. I was very angry. Was I deliberately dribbling because it was him? Yes."

"After that, we met and talked and agreed that it was a misunderstanding,” Messi added. “He was upset because what he said didn't match what was reported.

"Then he went to Barcelona, and we talked about many things about the club, the city and everything."