Messi after Sanabria appeared to spit at him: "I don't know who he is"

Argentina got back to winning ways in their next World Cup qualifier by beating Paraguay at the Estadio Monumental with a solitary goal from Nicolas Otamendi. 

Leo Messi, who came on in the second half to replace Julián Álvarez, made his comeback and ended up in the limelight after a clash with Antonio Sanabria, a former Barça player who currently plays for Tornio. 

After an exchange of words between the two players, who both played at La Masia, the Paraguayan player appeared to spit on Messi's back. The incident did not escalate and the Argentinian even claimed after the game that he had not even noticed the incident. 

Incident of Sanabria spitting with Lionel Messi in front of him.pic.twitter.com/jh0fd2WOFS https://t.co/kDePS0f1fU

— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) 13 de octubre de 2023

"Truthfully, I didn't see it. My teammates told me in the locker room that he spat at me," Messi said about the incident. "I don't know who this boy is and I don't want to make a big thing out of it."

Sanabria denial

For his part Antonio Sanabria wanted to play down the importance of his spitting at Messi, and even denied it. 

❌🇵🇾 Antonio Sanabria DESMIENTE el escupitajo a Lionel. pic.twitter.com/1hvHu0QsEx

— Ataque Futbolero (@AtaqueFutbolero) 13 de octubre de 2023

"I was watching the footage. It looks like I spit on him, but no, nothing to do with it. It was far away. Nothing happened with Messi. It looks like I spit on him, but nothing to do with it, it was far away. I totally deny it," explained the Paraguay national team player after the match.