Watch Lionel Messi channelise his inner Zinedine Zidane in a pre-season game

Argentine football star Lionel Messi is hardly known for losing his cool on the field. However, when Barcelona played AS Roma in the Joan Gamper Trophy at Camp Nou, the diminutive Argentine suffered an uncharacteristic loss of composure during the game.

Messi, who had been subjected to some aggressive tackling by the Roma defenders, was cutting a frustrated figure as the game progressed. When French international Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Messi got into an argument in the first half, the latter had had enough. He aimed a headbutt at Yanga-Mbiwa, and grabbed him by the throat, as fellow players rushed to the scene to calm things down.

The incident should have been enough to get Messi the marching orders, but surprisingly, both Yanga-Mbiwa and Messi were booked by the match official. The Barcelona forward took advantage of the first half reprieve later on, and scored Barcelona's second goal of the game. The Catalan club went on to win by a scoreline of 3-0.

The incident brought back memories of the infamous headbutt by Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 FIFA World Cup final. Zidane had directed his anger at Italian defender Marco Materazzi after the latter allegedly insulted one of Zidane's family members. He was immediately sent off, and had to watch his country miss out on the title in penalties.