Scott McTominay has revealed why Barcelona legend Lionel Messi initially rejected the Scotsman’s request to have his shirt.
Back in 2019, Manchester United came up against the Blaugrana in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
McTominay explained that Messi was hesitant to offer him his jersey following a case of mistaken identity. The Argentina international had initially believed that it was the Scotsman who had elbowed him during the game, leaving him with a bloody nose.
Manchester United.
Man United were drawn against Barcelona for the quarter-finals of the Champions League during the 2018-19 campaign.
The Catalan side ended up winning the first leg 1-0 and then went on to record a convincing 3-0 victory in the second leg.
Messi himself managed to score a brace at the Nou Camp, as Barcelona secured a commanding 4-0 aggregate result over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s team.
In the first leg of the tie, Messi ended up with a bloody nose after getting elbowed in the face by Chris Smalling.
As such, he initially turned down McTominay’s request for his jersey before the 24-year-old managed to clarify the situation.
McTominay on Messi.
McTominay spoke with ESPN and he was asked to reveal who he believes is the best player in the world.
“Messi, 100 per cent,” the Scotland international replied.
“I got his shirt, you know? So, whenever we played against him for Barcelona (in 2019), Chris Smalling elbowed him and he’s got blood coming out of his nose. And he thought it was me.
“Because I said to Sergio Romero: ‘Please can you ask Messi to get his shirt?’.
“Sergio comes back in and said: ‘Oh, he thinks you were the one who elbowed him on the halfway line’. I said: ‘No, no, no, no – tell him it wasn’t me, so make sure I get that shirt because that’s going in my bedroom’. So he knows it wasn’t me now.
“Sorry Chrissy, but he was the one who roughed him up a bit.”
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