Tuesday night, Lionel Messi did what he usually does. On a Champions League stage, he delivered a sensational highlight and helped his club advance, with Inter Miami dismissing Sporting Kansas City (4-1 on aggregate) to move to the Concacaf Champions Cup last 16.
But hours earlier, Messi was in less familiar territory, having received his first fine as a player in MLS.
It was an undisclosed amount, certainly nothing that the Argentina national team captain will lose sleep over. Still, Messi’s behavior during the opening weekend of MLS play revealed a side of him that has always been an overlooked feature, even if it hadn’t been a big part of his MLS experience to date. Whether it’s attempting to exert an oversized influence or simply being uber-competitive, Messi is showing he won’t hold back.
Messi’s punishment came as a result of grabbing New York City FC assistant coach Mehdi Ballouchy by the back of the neck in a confrontation after the final whistle in a 2-2 at Chase Stadium. Miami striker Luis Suárez was handed the same fate as Messi for a similar infraction on NYCFC central defender Birk Risa, which occurred at half-time. Suárez’s history of misconduct is well-documented. Messi’s transgressions on the pitch have been less common — or at the very least are not synonymous with who he is as a player. The grabbing of the neck, however, is a move that Messi has used before.
Messi confronts the referee. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
During a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Brazil in November 2023, Messi and Rodrygo exchanged insults. The Real Madrid forward reportedly referred to Messi and his teammates as cowards for retreating to the dressing room after Brazilian police attacked a section of Argentine fans. When Messi returned to the field, he placed his hand on the back of Rodrygo’s neck and asked, “If we’re world champions, why are we cowards?”
Five days prior, Messi had played in a heated match against Uruguay at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires. As is the case whenever the two nations meet, elbows and late tackles were flying. Messi took his fair share and dealt many of his own. He even bumped Colombian referee Wilmar Roldán before protesting a call that went against Argentina. Roldán let it slide, though Uruguay won the World Cup qualifier 2-0.
To many of his fans around the world, humility is what defines Messi off the pitch, but the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is a completely different person between the white lines. He is prone to emotional outbursts, many of which come in the heat of the moment. Who can forget that heated 2011 El Clásico when Messi intentionally kicked a ball at Real Madrid fans who were seated in the first row of Bernabéu stands?
That era of El Clásico was fraught with chaos and toxicity. It engulfed the Barcelona and Madrid players and coaches equally. In that environment, even a mild-mannered Messi could lose his cool and react uncharacteristically. In 2019, after Argentina was eliminated in the Copa America semifinals by host Brazil, Messi hit out at a perceived bias toward the five-time World Cup champions.
“I was frustrated by the referee because he favored (Brazil) the entire match, in every play,” Messi said at the time. “It’s unhinging and it takes you out of the game. Brazil were at home and today they control a lot in CONMEBOL (the governing body of South American football).”
At the conclusion of the tournament, after Argentina claimed a third-place medal, Messi said that the tournament had been “set up for Brazil.”
GO DEEPER
Ref who asked Lionel Messi for his jersey disciplined by Concacaf
Back then, Messi had not won an international competition with his national team. He was downtrodden about his chances of ever tasting glory with Argentina. Times have certainly changed. Argentina is the current world champion and winner of back-to-back Copa América tournaments. Messi and the Albiceleste are the darlings of CONMEBOL. It’s a privileged position that Argentina, whether you like it or not, has earned on the playing field.
That status has emboldened Messi. Years of scrutiny in his home country — fair or otherwise — followed by enormous success with the national team has turned his thick skin into body armor. The stakes now are much lower than what he was accustomed to with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, but in MLS, Messi is as untouchable as he has ever been. The jokes about Messi running Inter Miami as both a sporting director and CEO have only added to his mystique in the land of celebrity.
That should not and does not condone his actions from Saturday night, in which he berated referee Alexis Da Silva and called him a coward. Messi’s reaction was excessive, and he clearly crossed a line when he grabbed Ballouchy’s neck. Yet Messi also had ample reason to be upset with Da Silva. The referee had made a mistake that proved influential in the result.
In first-half stoppage time, NYCFC defender Strahinja Tanasijević lost control of the ball in possession. Inter Miami midfielder Sergio Busquets pounced and Tanasijević’s desperate lunge became a dangerous challenge that sent the Spaniard to the ground in pain. Da Silva immediately cautioned Tanasijević with a yellow and Messi applauded the decision.
GO DEEPER
MLS’s record signings make immediate impact for their trophy-hungry clubs
Two minutes later, Tanasijević took down Suárez. The referee was well-positioned and immediately blew his whistle. He also placed his hand slightly inside his pocket, where he keeps his yellow card, but opted to not produce another caution for Tanasijević.
Apple TV commentator Keith Costigan said, “(Tanasijević) couldn’t really have had a complaint if the referee did go to the notebook again there.” Costigan then referred to Tanasijević’s challenge on Suárez as “silly,” while Mo Edu, Apple TV’s on-air analyst for that match, said, “It’s a reckless challenge when you think about it, knowing that you’re on a yellow card and the ref has already given a red card in the game.” (Inter Miami defender Tomás Avilés had been sent off earlier in the first half.)
Mariano Trujillo, Apple TV’s Spanish-language analyst added, “For me, this is a yellow. It’s a foul and it showed the aggressiveness necessary for it to be a yellow card. I don’t know if having just cautioned (Tanasijević) has influenced the referee’s decision. A foul doesn’t have to be a violent play to be a yellow card. It has to cut off a promising attack. It should’ve been a second yellow for Tanasijević.”
Messi, Suárez and Busquets immediately confronted Da Silva, clearly raising their voices with displeasure. Miami played the remainder of the match a man down, but a total of 19 minutes of added time was given by the referee across both halves, so concessions were given. Miami scored the equalizer in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time.
After the match, Miami’s chief business officer, Xavier Asensi, posted a screenshot on Instagram of Tanasijević being cautioned by Da Silva, alluding to the referee’s decision to spare the defender from receiving a second yellow. In another Miami move that crossed a line, Asensi tagged MLS and the Professional Referee Organization, which manages MLS referees.
Miami head coach Mascherano is in his first season at the club. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)
On Monday, Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano downplayed the incident between Messi and Ballouchy.
“It’s difficult when you’re on the pitch and sometimes you think things are not going the right way because you can see some mistakes from the referee,” he said.
“In football, to understand the players and the emotions of the players, you have to be inside of the pitch. It’s difficult to counter those emotions. I think the press sometimes want to (create) a circus about it. That happens in every game when there’s an (argument) between the referee and an opposing player.”
Mascherano, to an extent, is right. What we see from our sofas or from the press tribunes pales in comparison to what the players experience on the pitch. Messi and his teammates know that every match they play amounts to a derby for the far-less-heralded MLS opposition.
Messi has been lauded for his desire to win since coming to MLS in 2023. His competitiveness remains intact — as is his willingness to cross a line in the heat of the moment.
(Top photo: Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
