Lionel Messi in line to miss four games after receiving first red card of Barcelona career

Six-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi could miss up to four games after receiving the first red card of his Barcelona career on Sunday. The Argentine was given his marching orders for lashing out at Athletic Bilbao's Asier Villalibre in extra-time as Ronald Koeman's side suffered a 2-3 defeat against Bilbao in the Supercopa final. Referee Jesus Gil Manzano hadn't seen the incident between Messi and Villalibre in real-time but reviewed it on the pitch-side monitor after the VAR room advised him to take a look.

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Antoine Griezmann put Barcelona in front on two occasions only for Oscar de Marcos and Villalibre to reply for the Basques. Bilbao's second equaliser came in the 90th minute of the game. However, Inaki Williams struck just four minutes into extra-time to put Marcelino Toral's men in the lead for the first time in the final. 

Barcelona pushed for their equalizer late in the game but to no avail as Lionel Messi was shown a red card for taking a swing at  Villalibre. The referee initially missed the incident between Messi and Villalibre but decided to brandish a red card for the Barca captain after a VAR check. It was Messi's first red card in his Barcelona career, and it came in his 753rd appearance for the club. 

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Following the game, it was confirmed that Messi will now miss Barcelona's next two games. However, his ban could be doubled when the Royal Spanish Football Federation's competition committee meet to discuss the incident later this week. According to reports from Marca, Messi will face a four-game ban for lashing out at Villalibre. 

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Messi's ban will be served across LaLiga and the Copa del Rey so he is set to miss Thursday's Copa del Rey trip to face third-tier Cornella and Sunday's LaLiga game away to Elche. If Messi is handed a four-game ban, he will also sit out for the next round of the Copa del Rey if Barca progress, as well as the visit of Bilbao in LaLiga on January 31.

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Barcelona headed into Sunday's final on the back of a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions and boosted by their captain Messi, who passed a late fitness test after missing the semi-final win over Real Sociedad. Blaugrana are currently third on the LaLiga table, seven points behind leaders Atletico Madrid, who have two more games in hand. 

Image Credits - AP