Rafa Marquez lifts lid on Lionel Messi ‘argument’ that forced Pep Guardiola to intervene

Rafa Marquez revealed he once came to blows with Lionel Messi in training at Barcelona in an incident that forced Pep Guardiola to intervene.

The Mexican reviewed his personal life and professional career in an extensive interview with Mexican journalist Yordi Rosado.

Among the many stories he recalled, the Barca B coach highlighted a clash with Messi in which Guardiola had to get involved to separate the pair.

“In training I gave a lot of orders. At some point there was a clash between us [him and Messi] that ended in an argument in which Guardiola had to intervene,” Marquez said.

“We started to talk over each other. Beyond that, we were very good team-mates, we are not the best of friends, we were team-mates and I admire his career. He is the greatest in the history of soccer.”

Marquez insisted that he and his team-mates were keen for the Argentinian to work harder off the ball – and that is when the issue arose between them.

“We knew Leo could dribble past three or four players but sometimes he would exaggerate it a lot. We were trying to direct him, telling him: ‘Here he dribbles, here he doesn’t’,” he added.

“It was to get him to work more with his team-mates. And one day, because of my strong insistence on these instructions, the problem occurred,” he added.

Marquez outlines Barca goal

The dynamics within the Barca team led the club’s senior management to consider Marquez to replace Xavi Hernandez if he resigned.

Instead, he has opted to leave at the end of the season and Marquez, who was Joan Laporta’s first choice to replace him, has acknowledged that he would like to lead the first team if the opportunity arises.

“You can’t say no to an opportunity like that,” he added. “If it’s not here, obviously I’ll look for other ways to be in the elite.

“I hope one day to be coach of Barcelona or the [Mexico] national team.”