James Milner has revealed Lionel Messi called him a ‘donkey’ after the pair came to blows in Liverpool’s first-leg Champions League semi-final match against Barcelona.
Liverpool lost the match at Camp Nou 3-0, with Messi scoring two of their goals, but the Reds staged a minor miracle to overturn the deficit at Anfield to win 4-0 and progress to the final in Madrid.
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Messi and Milner came to blows repeatedly throughout the semi-final tie
And Milner, 33, has revealed the Argentine was furious after he clattered him onto the touchline.
“He wasn’t happy,” Milner told the Mail. “He was giving me plenty in Spanish going down the tunnel at half-time as well. He was calling me ‘burro’. It translates as donkey but I think it’s also used in Spanish football as a general term for someone who goes around kicking people.
“I asked him if he was all right, but he wasn’t having it. I don’t think he realised I understood his Spanish. He said: “That foul you did, that’s because I nutmegged you”.
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“I left him to it at that point and went into the changing room. Look, I’ve only got admiration for him. He has earned the right to say what he wants.”
Milner was ridiculed by fans after being nutmegged by Messi while playing for Manchester City in 2015, but he insisted it did not get the better of him ahead of the match in Barcelona.
“The stuff he did in that game, stuff he has done his whole career, it makes him tough to play against. If you try and stop him, you can’t be scared of being made to look foolish. I’ve done it. I’ve been nutmegged by him and it has been viewed a million times.
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Milner clattered Messi onto the touchline at Camp Nou
“I wasn’t the first and I won’t be the last. He’s an incredible player.
“But with players like that, you have to let them know you’re there and not let them have everything their own way.
“You just need to try to disrupt their rhythm. You don’t want to hurt him but it’s a physical game and, if he’s running the game, you try and knock him out of his stride. It’s part of the game, the mental side.”
Milner and Liverpool face Tottenham in the Champions League final on June 1 – a match you can follow live on talkSPORT.
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