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Lionel Messi banned for two games after first-ever Barcelona red card

Soccer Football - Spanish Super Cup Final - FC Barcelona v Athletic Bilbao - Estadio La Cartuja de Sevilla, Seville, Spain - January 17, 2021 Barcelona's Lionel Messi reacts [Reuters, Marcelo Del Pozo]

Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi has been handed a two-match ban following lashing out at an Athletic Bilbao player, consequently receiving his first-ever Red Card in Barcelona colours during the Super Cup final on Sunday, January 17.

After a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review, referee Jesus Gil Manzano gave Messi a red card late in the game following an altercation on the ball with Bilbao’s Asier Villaibre. Messi appeared to hit Villaibre in the face, an act the referee deemed ‘excessive force’.

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