Messi banned for two games for red card, Barcelona to appeal

Lionel Messi has been handed a two match ban for his red card in Barcelona’s 3-2 loss to Athletic Bilbao in the SuperCopa final.

Messi was given a straight red in the final minutes of the game for striking Villalibre in the face with an arm and the RFEF has handed the Argentine a two games for the incident.

The referee’s report describes the incident as: “Striking an opponent with his arm with excessive force while the ball was in play but not within a playable distance.”

Barcelona has now decided to appeal the sanction that would see Messi miss the Copa Del Rey match against Cornellá on Thursday and Elche in La Liga on Sunday.

It was the first time Messi would be red carded in his Barcelona career.