Lionel Messi refused to talk to team-mate for three months after on-pitch incident

Lionel Messi didn't talk to one of his team-mates for three months after an on-pitch incident.

Throughout his career, Messi has represented Barcelona, PSG, Inter Miami and the Argentina national team, winning trophies wherever he has played.

Success did evade him at international level until the 2021 Copa America, when Argentina defeated Brazil in the final in the Maracana.

Argentina also won the World Cup a year later, before retaining their Copa America crown in 2023.

Throughout that time, there were one constant in Messi's career at both club and international level.

He played with midfielder Leandro Paredes with both PSG and Argentina, with both players in fact leaving the French club in the summer of 2023.

Paredes is now back in his home country, having signed for Argentine giants River Plate earlier this month.

And while he and Messi are now on good terms, there was a point while they were team-mates that things were different.

The midfielder told Infobae earlier this year that the eight-time Ballon d'Or refused to speak to him for 'about three months' after something that happened on the pitch.

Paredes directed an insult at an opposition player, he claims, but Messi overheard it and thought it was aimed at him instead.

He explained: "We spent about three months without speaking. I had a terrible time.

"I sent him a message the next day, I sent him a message 15 days later, I told him, 'It wasn't for you, it wasn't to offend'. And he didn't respond.

"He went three months without answering. Three months had passed without speaking.

"But no, a phenomenon, because we arrived at the premises on the same day. I arrived a little while early and he appeared in my room.

"I was brushing my teeth. It was very early, and he threw water on me and said, 'What are you doing up so early?'"