Paris Saint-Germain forward Edinson Cavani has confirmed there was a heated exchange with Lionel Messi during Uruguay’s 2-2 friendly draw with Argentina on Monday amid claims he offered to fight his opponent.
With Uruguay leading at the time thanks to a Cavani goal, Messi reacted angrily to a foul from combative midfielder Matias Vecino.
After a confrontation, Ole claims that Cavani asked Messi: "Do you want to fight?" to which the Barcelona star reportedly replied: "Whenever you want, whenever you want."
The pair were eventually separated by Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, a team-mate of Messi at Barcelona, while defender Diego Godin also offered a conciliatory arm around the shoulder.
When asked about the flashpoint incident after the game, Cavani confirmed that there was a confrontation between the pair but he downplayed the severity of it.
"Yes, that's football," he told reporters. "That's what the Clasico matches [between Argentina and Uruguay] are like. That's football."
Argentina went on to equalise through a Sergio Aguero header, but were pegged back minutes later by Suarez’s free-kick.
It was Messi who had the last laugh, however, converting a stoppage-time penalty to ensure the spoils were shared.