Lionel Messi Very Lucky To Escape A Red Card During Barcelona Vs. Athletic Bilbao

Fans think Lionel Messi should have been shown a straight red card for his stamp on Yeray Alvarez on Tuesday.

Barcelona's 1-0 La Liga victory over Athetlic Bilbao wasn't without controversy as Messi was very lucky to escape a red card for his second half challenge.

With the game goalless, the Argentine caught Yeray on the ankle with a shocking tackle which left the defender rolling around in agony.

The match referee failed to brandish a card to Messi, who went onto set up the only goal of the game. Three minutes after the incident, he created a goal for Ivan Rakitic.

But Messi's stamp was the main talking point from the league clash.

One Real Madrid fan argued: "Retrospective action needs to be called given that VAR was not even consulted... Modric got a red for less FFS!"

A second tweeted: "Modric got a red for waaaaaay less. Modric did it by accident, Messi on purpose."

A third added: "Think of what people would have said if that was Ramos."

It's not the first time Messi has landed himself in hot water since the restart. He appeared to hit out at Diego Carlos during Sevilla vs. Barcelona.

Meanwhile, the Catalan club return to the top of La Liga, three points ahead of Real Madrid who return to action tonight against Mallorca.

Topics: Football News, Football, Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Real Madrid, La Liga

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado, and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping and Anthony Joshua. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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