Barcelona Captain Lionel Messi has been handed a two-match ban for his red card against Atletico Bilbao on Sunday.
Bilbao fought back from a 2-1 deficit to earn a 3-2 victory over Barcelona after extra time.
Messi received his marching orders after he lashed out at Athletic Bilbao’s Asier Villalibre.
The Referee missed the incident but it was later reviewed by VAR.
The Spanish soccer federation said on Tuesday that Messi had been banned for two games meaning he will miss the Copa Del Rey clash against Cornella and the La Liga fixture at Elche.
He is set for a return against Atletico Bilbao in the league on January 29.
RFEF revealed that Messi would have faced a ban ranging from four to 12 matches had the competition committee described the incident as aggression but it was instead reported as “violence during play” which is punished with a two to three-game ban.
Barcelona have confirmed that they will appeal the judgement.
That was Messi’s first red card since he started playing for Barcelona in 2005 making a total of 754 matches in that period.
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