Lionel Messi news: Liverpool fans make petition to ban the Barcelona skipper for allegedly punching Fabinho
What is the story?
After their humiliating 3-0 defeat at the hands of Barcelona and Lionel Messi on Wednesday night, Liverpool fans have come up with a petition to ban the Argentine for allegedly punching Fabinho, just prior to his sensational free-kick goal.
In case you didn’t know….
Barcelona have one foot in the Champions League final as they destroyed Jürgen Klopp’s men at the Camp Nou last night, courtesy of a sensational display from their talisman, Messi.
The Barcelona skipper literally toyed with the Liverpool defenders and also looked determined throughout the course of the 90 minutes. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was at the pick of his prowess and found the back of the net at the 75th minute from a rebound after Luis Suarez struck the crossbar.
Messi then scored his second and Barcelona’s third from an inch-perfect free-kick a few minutes later. The Argentine wizard curled the ball with expertise and smashed it into the top corner to put the final nail in Liverpool’s coffin.
With his brace last night, Messi has now scored a staggering 48 goals across all competitions in the present campaign. La Liga's top goalscorer is also leading the Champions League goalscoring chart with 12 goals as he looks to win Europe’s elite competition for the fifth time.
The heart of the matter…
A newly emerged footage of Messi’s collision with Fabinho, just prior to his free-kick goal, shows that the Argentine made contact with his arms before going down to earn a foul.
Liverpool fans were furious after watching the clip and some of them have created a petition to ban Messi for allegedly punching Fabinho in the face.
The title of the petition is, "Get Messi a retrospective ban for clearly punching Fabinho in the head.", and it reads: “So basically Messi gets a free kick for punching Fabinho in the head and scores it, I feel like this needs to be looked at by UEFA."
What’s Next?
Liverpool, who are next up against Newcastle United in the Premier League this weekend, will host Barcelona for the return leg next week.