Revealed: Lionel Messi was told to 'shut up' by Pep Guardiola in furious bust-up with ex-Barcelona team-mate

Mexican icon Marquez was at Barca between 2003-10 and played alongside Argentine legend Messi, too. On one occasion, the two came to blows in a practice game, with Marquez not happy at Messi holding onto the ball for too long - rather than shooting. Just when a row was breaking out, manager Guardiola defended the Mexican and put Messi in his place.

He said, as quoted by The Mirror: "Yes, in a five-a-side game [we clashed]. He was on my team and of course, Messi had the ball. He had the goal to shoot and he didn't shoot. We were losing and we said to him: 'Messi, shoot, Messi, score a goal'. Nothing. Until I got p***ed off and told him: 'Messi, let go of the ball, bro.' So he approached and answered me. Pep arrived and said: 'Messi, shut up. You have to respect Rafa's hierarchy.'"

Ultimately, this mattered little as Marquez and Messi won a hatful of trophies together at Barcelona. And under Guardiola's management, the Blaugrana, arguably, became one of the greatest teams of all time off the back of winning the 2009 Champions League title. This story also shows Guardiola was not afraid to keep Messi in check.

Marquez has since retired from football and is now an assistant coach for Mexico's national side. Messi, on the other hand, is still going strong at 37 and could feature for Inter Miami away at Atlanta United on November 2.