Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi‘s representative has denied that the Argentina international in any way insulted the referee of the Clasico, Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez.

Earlier, Sergio Ramos had claimed that Messi had put pressure on the official during half-time, soon after Barca were reduced to 10-men following Sergi Roberto’s red card.

“Lionel never called the referee a name, or disrespected him,” said MARCA‘s source.

“He spoke with the referee on several occasions, as the television images showed.

“However, it was more on the pitch than in the tunnel.”

Meanwhile, Barcelona still remain unbeaten in La Liga and will now face Villarreal at Camp Nou on Wednesday.