Injuring La Pulga’s Face, Smalling Admits Messi has forgiven him

DBasia.news –  Chris Smalling, Manchester United defender, was involved in a dueling race with Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi when the two teams met in the Champions League quarter-final first leg. Smalling said that Messi had forgiven him.

Before the match, Chris Smalling had made a nerve war on Lionel Messi. The Englishman insisted he was impatient with Messi in the field.

Apparently, Smalling didn’t mess with the phrase. In fact, he had injured Lionel Messi’s nose that it needed treatment.

Smalling insisted that he did not mean to hurt Lionel Messi. He had met the Argentine national team player to explain.

“Yes, we talked afterward. At that time, I did not realize that I had injured him,” Smalling explained   BBC Radio 5 Live.

“However, after the match, we briefly talked and shook hands. He said he understood that this was just an incident,” the player stressed.

Now, Manchester United need to win at Camp Nou to get rid of Barcelona. Smalling insisted the Red Devils could not continue to pressure Barcelona in the first leg because they did not want to go back to conceding.

“We understand that we cannot keep pressing in the second half because there is still the next match. We need to make sure we go to the second leg without feeling guilty and give our best to take advantage of every opportunity,” added Smalling.

Before facing Barcelona in the second leg, Manchester United will host West Ham United in the Premier League 2018-2019 continued match at Old Trafford Stadium on Saturday (4/13). The Red Devils are currently ranked sixth, three points adrift of Tottenham Hotspur who are in fourth place.