Marcelo, the former Real Madrid vice-captain has stated that former Barcelona captain Lionel Messi was ‘evil’ on the pitch.

The Brazilian said Messi got even tougher to manage if he got angry during a match, adding that he tried to hit him a lot.

Speaking to Cortes Podpah, Marcelo said: “Messi didn’t talk during the games and I tried not to talk to him because he was quiet.

“We always said that we should leave it like that, because if you decided to obstruct him, you would provoke him and then he would get angry, and if he was angry, he became more and more difficult to handle.

“He [Messi] is very evil. I tried to hit him a lot. I think he thinks before everyone else.”

Marcelo faced Messi 33 times in all competitions for club and country.

The left-back ended up losing 16 times to the Argentina captain while winning 10 games.