Lionel Messi was rude towards other players, says former goalkeeper

Real Madrid CF will be facing FC Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Supercopa de España on Wednesday. As expected, memories of past editions of "El Clasico" are being dug up by journalists, fans and players from all over the world. Interestingly, former Real Madrid goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek has some unexpected revelations about former Barcelona captain Lionel Messi.

This season, "El Clasico" is a very different affair without the likes of Messi and Sergio Ramos. However, the names of both former captains are still inevitably being dragged into the conversation. According to Dudek, who spoke about the fixture in his autobiography, Messi is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"He was deceptive and provocative, the same as Barcelona and Pep Guardiola," Dudek said, as quoted by Marca. Even though Dudek played mainly as a back-up keeper while with Real Madrid from 2007-2011, he gave a rare glimpse at what goes on during "El Clasico."

"They were so ready to provoke you and they were able to do it to perfection. That hurt Jose Mourinho and the whole team a lot," he added. His comments go in direct contrast to Messi's reserved image. Dudek claims that people would be extremely surprised if they had the opportunity to listen to the trash-talking that goes on during matches.

"I saw Messi say such rude things to Pepe and [Sergio] Ramos that you would not imagine from such a quiet and seemingly good person," he said. Pepe, a former Real Madrid defender, has a reputation of being something of a "bad boy" on the pitch. Sergio Ramos, for his part is also one who is not shy about showing aggression. However, Dudek claims that it may not seem obvious to viewers, but Messi has his own ways to fight back.

What's even more interesting is that Ramos and Messi are now teammates at Paris Saint-Germain, something that seemed unimaginable less than a year ago. Both former captains will be missed when the Spanish giants face-off tonight, but the magic of "El Clasico" remains, and new protagonists will surely take their place.