Lionel Messi's calendar year has been tremendous. He finally achieved his lifelong dream of winning the World Cup with Argentina, which led to him receiving his eighth Ballon d'Or yesterday.

While most of the soccer world praised the Argentinian for his monumental achievement, a certain Spanish journalist took the opportunity to report some breaking news. Gerard Romero, who owns Jijantes FC and has reported on FC Barcelona for several years, published a story on Tuesday morning stating that Messi and Barca president Joan Laporta spoke at the end of the Ballon d'Or gala.

Lionel Messi calls Gerard Romero a liar

The topics discussed between the two, who have not gotten along well after Messi's premature Barcelona exit, were reportedly Messi's speech and a possible date for the player's tribute at Camp Nou.

Messi caught word of the report and discredited it, while also eviscerating Romero in the process: "You lie... once again".

🚨 Lionel Messi responds to Gerard Romero's claims that Messi and Laporta spoke at the Ballon d'Or gala. Messi says "You're lying... once more... 🤥". pic.twitter.com/5YAROIUBgy

— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) October 31, 2023

Messi and Romero have history, particularly over the last few years. While Messi was still at PSG, Romero reported that one of his sons had a "very screwed up time" in Paris, and that that was a main reason his wife and children were making an "incredible effort" for Messi to return to Barcelona. Messi proceeded to call Romero out for that report.

Messi ended up signing with Inter Miami, despite Romero being adamant that his return to Barca was nearly a lock.

Romero has also been criticized by other Barcelona players. Robert Lewandowski and Franck Kessie, who joined the club in 2022, called him out in the past.

To Romero's "credit", he begged for forgiveness on Tuesday afternoon after Messi's message. He claims he was given false information, saying he was duped regarding something about Leo yet again.