"Flea", "Rabbit": Reguilón fires insults at Messi and Suarez
Images released of Saturday's Clásico show the young defender doing his best to show Suarez and Messi he was not intimidated by them.
The Clásico is a naturally heated affair that is never short of off-the-ball incidents, with players on both sides guilty of finding ways to wind up their opponents.
Twenty-two-year-old academy graduate Sergio Reguilón has recently broken into the Real Madrid first team and is getting his first taste of the on-field Clásico rivalry. But he already seems quite comfortable throwing sly digs at some of Barcelona’s veteran star players in a bid to show that he is not intimidated by them.
The first was Luis Suarez, who was doing his best to wind up the young defender during the game by patronizingly patting him on the back, as images released by Spanish TV channel Vamos have revealed.
Clearly having none of it, Reguilón responded and was captured telling Suarez: “Don’t touch me. Don’t touch me, eh. Man you are so ugly. You are really ugly.” A few minutes later, the Madrid defender also called the Uruguayan a “rabbit” in another stab at Suarez’s appearance.
Messi was also subjected to some of Reguilón’s insults just seconds after the first incident with Suarez. “What? What did you say? What’s up with you, flea!? What’s wrong with you now?,” Reguilón asked the Barcelona talisman.
Messi was not happy with his comments and proceeded to approach the 22-year-old left back, but Reguilón’s team mate Raphael Varance intervened to stop the incident going any further.
During the international break in March, Reguilón explained the row, saying that the comments were said in the heat of the moment and were just caused by the tension of the Clásico.