As they slumped to another disappointing Champions League knockout, Paris St Germain's woes were readily summed up by the sending off of their Italian international midfielder, Marco Verratti.
With the tie looking well and truly beyond the French champions-elect, Verratti, already on a yellow-card, found himself receiving a second for unnecessary dissent.
Gesticulating wildly in the direction of the referee before timidly accepting his punishment, Verratti has conceded that he "got it wrong against Real."
Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport about the incident, Verratti did query whether the referee could have been more lenient with him however; "It was a bad reaction but I didn't insult anybody."
Unsatisfied perhaps with leaving himself alone vulnerable to such accusations of poor behaviour, the Italian decided to query why referees were not so resolutely strict with the rules when it came to certain players; "Messi goes around pointing his finger in the referee's face and doesn't even get punished."
An interesting observation, there is no doubt that Barcelona's talisman is prone to directing the odd barbed comment in the direction of an official he disagrees with.
Having been recently banned for four international games after insulting an assistant referee during a World Cup qualifier with Argentina, anyone who watched Messi play will notice his proclivity for a 'quiet word' with the officials.
However, it is hardly a facet of his character that is unique to Messi and Verratti alone.
What may have more accurately driven Verratti's concern with Messi's conduct could be deduced from his comments regarding that second-leg tie against Real Madrid and the contributing factor to PSG's defeat:
PSG are not that far away from Real Madrid. We were convinced we could go through, but then certain incidents make the difference.
It [being without Neymar] is like taking Messi away from Barcelona -- they are players who make up 30 percent of a team.
Obviously a fan of PSG's expensive import, it will be interesting to see whether Verratti's insistence that he wishes to remain in Paris holds if the Brazilian makes his expected move away from the club this summer.
