PSG star Marco Verratti suggests Lionel Messi gets ‘special treatment’

Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti has managed to slam Lionel Messi and rule out a move to Barcelona in the same interview.

The diminutive Italian – who has joined up with his nation’s squad ahead of the upcoming friendlies against Argentina and England – suggested that Messi gets special treatment from referees in an interview with Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Veratti was sent off in PSG’s Champions League defeat to Real Madrid earlier this month, picking up his second booking for dissent.

But he’s claimed that he could have been treated more leniently.

“I got it wrong against Real, but it was a red card out of frustration and sometimes referees could be more tolerant,” he said.

“It was a bad reaction but I didn’t insult anybody, whereas Messi goes around pointing his finger in the referee’s face and doesn’t even get punished. But anyway, I need to improve.”

Verratti has been strongly linked with a move to the Nou Camp, but he claimed that any suggestion that a deal was on the cards were wide of the mark.

“I read that [agent Mino] Raiola had offered me to Barcelona. It’s a lie,” he continued.

“I’ve spoken with my management and they know what I think, and it is all clear. I’ve decided to stay.

“I’m utterly intent on winning with PSG, who gave me this opportunity to grow also as a man, and I share in an ambitious project.

“I hope my teammates also think like this because one defeat (to Real) cannot erase everything. If we are to reach great objectives then we need great players. It’s so much easier with Neymar.”