Beating Roma 3-0 in a friendly match wasn’t the most interesting thing that happened to Barcelona during the eventful evening. Lionel Messi headbutting Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa grabbed most of the attention, but Ivan Rakitic for his wonderful goal deserves some credit as well.
Messi got into some heated discussions with the Central African-French defender after a short stoppage in play and the two immediately clashed heads, with Messi initiating the contact despite suffering from some serious size disadvantage. He then tried to grab Yanga-Mbiwa by the throat, but by then other players rushed to stop the incident.
No one got sent off, and Messi went on to score Barcelona’s second goal in the 41st minute. Neymar scored the opener, and the best of the evening came from Rakitic with a thunderbolt from outside the penalty box.
Barcelona don’t have use for friendlies anymore. They have the European Super Cup against Sevilla on August 11, followed by two matches against Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup. The La Liga season begins on August 23 with another match against Bilbao.