It was Pep Guardiola's assistant Mikel Arteta who provoked Lionel Messi's furious reaction in the tunnel of The Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night, according to Spanish radio La Cope.
The station reported that while Messi was waiting outside the referee's room Arteta said: 'Anda tontorrón, vete y métete en tu vestuario,' which translates to 'Move along stupid, get yourself in your dressing room.'
Messi was already fuming at Barcelona's first group game defeat in the Champions League in two years and reacted, shouting back: 'Bobo, vení y da la cara!' a sort of 'come over here and say that to my face, stupid'.