Messi bagged a brace against Liverpool in midweek to dent their hopes of making successive Champions League finals.
After being thwarted for 75 minutes, the Argentine found space in the area and comfortably controlled a rebound off the bar to tap into an empty net.
That left Liverpool feeling hard done by at 2-0 down, but the Reds – and everyone else inside the Nou Camp – was left gobsmacked seven minutes later.
After being awarded a free-kick from just under 30 yards out, Messi took responsibility and stood over the ball.
So they took solace in Messi’s downing of Liverpool – so much so that his scarf was on sale outside Goodison Park yesterday evening.
Before the Merseyside Blues’ 2-0 win against Burnley, a merchandise stool had the Messi-inspired neckwear propped up amid a sea of blue equivalents.
Fans – from Everton and elsewhere – were not impressed by the sight, taking to Twitter to show their dismay.
“This is just sad,” one opined, while another said: “This is just sad.”
“Just shows how small they are,” another said, while a fellow user chipped in with: “Tinpot club.”
One summed it up passive-aggressively: “If he brings them more joy than their own club then fair enough. Everyone deserves a bit of happiness.”