Chris Smalling has been talking about the incident during Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Barcelona when he caught Lionel Messi in the face.
The challenge left the Barca captain covered in blood and needing treatment, but Smalling says he spoke to the GOAT after the match and he said he knew it was an accidental collision.
“Yeah we spoke after. I didn’t realise at the time actually that I had caught him like that,” he said.
“But after the game we had a brief chat, shook hands and he said he knew it was an accident.