Lionel Messi's Heatmap On Sunday Looked Like An Actual Goat

Lionel Messi is no stranger to being in a discussion about the GOAT but it's not often that he's talked about as a goat...

The Barcelona star is often talked about as the 'greatest of all time,' and at very least he's got to be in the conversation.

On Sunday the six time Ballon d'Or winner hit the headlines for his tribute to Diego Maradona, revealing a Newell's Old Boys shirt under his Barcelona kit after scoring.

But it might not have been the only tribute he paid to a fellow 'GOAT' as one fan noticed that Messi's heatmap from the game actually looked like the farm animal.

It was a game full of tributes from Messi towards his fellow countryman. As well as the goal celebration, the goal itself was reminiscent of one Maradona scored.

The 33-year-old even tried to emulate one of the former Napoli star's most famous goals. Martin Braithwaite opened the scoring around the half hour mark for Barca but, as the ball slowly drifted towards the line, Messi nearly pulled out his own 'Hand of God' by attempting to palm it in.

After the opener, Antoine Griezmann doubled the lead on 42 minutes before Philippe Coutinho made it 3-0 in the 57th minute.

Ousmane Dembele had a goal ruled out but Messi made it 4-0 in the 73rd minute, as Barcelona's inconsistent form continues.

The win leaves them 10 points behind league leaders Real Sociedad, with two games in hand, but, perhaps more importantly, the three points took them just a win behind rivals Real Madrid, with a game in hand, after Los Blancos' loss to Alavez on Saturday.

Messi pays tribute to Maradona. Image: PA Images

Whilst Messi was making obvious tributes to Maradona, a player who will have meant a whole lot to him, another player was denying making a tribute to the Barca star.

Bayer Leverkusen forward Leon Bailey denied that new born son Leo Cristiano was named after Messi or rival Cristiano Ronaldo, saying, "It has nothing to do with football, but with me and my name. Leo is an abbreviation of Leon. And Leo is the lion - I am a lion.

"I believe that my son also grows up with the mentality of being a fighter and a leader. And Cristiano is a lovely name that goes well with Leo."

Topics: Football News, Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Spain, La Liga

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a writer for SPORTbible. He covers all sport from football, formula one, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics, mma and wrestling. He obviously hates YOUR football team and has no interest in synchronised swimming.

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