In the heat of the moment, Messi’s fire starts to burn

On Tuesday night, Lionel Messi did what he usually does. 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’s final 16.

But hours earlier, Messi was in less familiar territory, having received his first fine as a player in Major League Soccer.

It was an undisclosed amount, certainly nothing Messi, Argentina’s national team captain, will lose sleep over. Still, his behavior during the opening weekend of MLS play revealed a side of him that has been overlooked. Whether it is attempting to exert an oversize influence or simply being extremely competitive, Messi is showing he will not hold back.

Messi’s punishment came as a result of grabbing a New York City FC assistant coach, Mehdi Ballouchy, by the back of his neck in a confrontation after the final whistle in a 2-2 tie at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Miami striker Luis Suárez was handed the same fate as Messi for a similar infraction on defender Birk Risa of New York City FC, which occurred at halftime. Suárez’s history of misconduct is well documented. Messi’s transgressions have been less common. The grabbing of the neck, however, is a move Messi has used before.

During a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Brazil in November 2023, Messi and Rodrygo exchanged insults. Rodrygo, a 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 said, “If we’re world champions, why are we cowards?”

Five days before, 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, although Uruguay won the World Cup qualifier, 2-0.

To many of his fans around the world, humility is what defines Messi, an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, off the field, but he is a different person on the field. 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 at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium?

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 América semifinals by host Brazil, Messi hit out at a perceived bias toward the five-time World Cup champions.

He said the referee favored Brazil on every play. “It’s unhinging, and it takes you out of the game,” he said at the time, while also saying Brazil was at home and control a lot in CONMEBOL, the governing body of South American soccer.

At the conclusion of the tournament, in which Argentina finished third, Messi said the tournament had been “set up for Brazil.”

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 national team are the darlings of CONMEBOL.

That status has emboldened Messi. Years of scrutiny in his home country followed by enormous success with the national team have turned his thick skin into body armor. The stakes now are much lower than what he was accustomed to with Barcelona and Paris St.-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 last weekend, when he berated referee Alexis Da Silva and called him a coward. Messi’s reaction was excessive, and he 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, defender Strahinja Tanasijevic of New York City FC lost control of the ball in possession. Inter Miami midfielder Sergio Busquets pounced and Tanasijevic’s desperate lunge became a dangerous challenge that sent the Spaniard to the ground in pain. Da Silva cautioned Tanasijevic with a yellow and Messi applauded the decision.

Two minutes later, Tanasijevic 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 not to produce another caution for Tanasijevic.

Apple TV+’s commentator, Keith Costigan, said Tanasijevic “couldn’t really have had a complaint if the referee did go to the notebook again there.” Costigan then referred to Tanasijevic’s challenge on Suárez as “silly,” while Mo Edu, the analyst for the 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.”

Mariano Trujillo, Apple TV+’s Spanish-language analyst, said, “It should’ve been a second yellow for Tanasijevic.”

Messi, Suárez and Busquets confronted Da Silva, raising their voices in 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 social media of Tanasijevic 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.

On Monday, Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano played down 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.”

Mascherano, to an extent, is right. What we see from our sofas or from the news media pales in comparison to what the players experience on the field. 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.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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