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Lionel Messi was targeted by Real Madrid attacker Jose Callejon, who forgot basic decency, according to the circumstances of the incident reported by Spanish sports newspapers.
Participating in a press conference on Friday, J. Callejon unexpectedly accused the Barcelona leader. According to the Real player, after the match against Barcelona, L. Messi waited in the parking lot for an hour and a half to insult Jose Mourinho's assistant Aitor Karanka and defender Alvaro Arbeloa, who was with his pregnant wife.
"L. Messi purposely waited for an hour and a half and I saw him calling A. Karanka a 'doll.' I was very close," said J. Callejon.
Journalists quickly uncovered the circumstances of the incident after the Real footballer's words. It turned out that the Barcelona players left the Santiago Bernabeu stadium by bus only 45 minutes after the end of the match, reached Madrid Airport, and immediately flew to the Catalan capital.
Barcelona defender Jordi Alba also confirmed the journalists' statements. According to him, after the 1-1 draw, L. Messi seemed frustrated, so he and the other players got on the bus and did not walk around the parking lot.
The unexpected statements of J. Callejon were denied by A. Arbeloa's wife, Carlota Ruiz. "I was walking in the parking lot and no one saw L. Messi," the woman said on her Twitter account.
It is believed that J. Callejon chose to smudge L. Messi not accidentally. If any unsubstantiated accusations and smears were applied to the footballer, "Real" would not suffer much, as the forward more often warms the bench than plays.
On Saturday, the Madrid newspaper "Marca" continued the campaign of smearing L. Messi, speculating whether the Argentinean spit towards the bench of Madrid Real's substitutes during the match.
The Barcelona leader does not react to any accusations thrown at him.
According to the newspaper "Sport," the team from the capital city would probably like to tarnish L. Messi's image for several reasons. It is believed that the representatives of "Real" did not like the recent image study conducted by the company "IMG Consulting." The results were unfavorable for the leader of "Real," C. Ronaldo, who received only 23 percent of the votes and lost not only to the most positively evaluated L. Messi (53.8 percent) but also to tennis superstar Roger Federer (25 percent).
Another aspect that could have prompted "Real" to start a smear campaign is Messi's new contract, which the footballer will soon sign with Barcelona. Undoubtedly, this news will be widely publicized in the media, so it would probably be beneficial for the team from the capital city if at least a few negative notes about the leader of the Catalan team were to accompany it."
