LIONEL MESSI has revealed that his son Mateo cheers on Real Madrid and pretends he is a Liverpool player.

The Argentinian legend and his wife Antonela Roccuzzo, 35, have three sons Thiago, 10, Mateo, 8, and Ciro, 5.

Lionel Messi opened up about his cheeky son’s antics

Messi and wife Antonela have three kids Thiago (right), Mateo (left) and Ciro (middle)

The Barcelona legend married Antonela in 2017

Messi plays football with his kids in the garden and his second oldest boy has come up with a unique way to wind-up his father.

The Inter Miami star revealed to TyC Sports: “When Mateo plays with me in the backyard, he goes ‘I’m Liverpool and Valencia because they beat you.'”

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When Messi was at Barcelona he suffered famous defeats to both the Reds and the LaLiga side.

The Catalan giants threw away a three-goal aggregate lead in the semi-final of the Champions League in 2019 as Liverpool won 4-0 in the second leg at Anfield.

Messi once lost bitterly to Liverpool in the Champion League

And Valencia also beat Barca 2-1 later that year in the Copa del Rey final despite Messi finding the back of the net in the game.

Meanwhile, Mateo also knows how to get under his brother’s skin, using Barca’s El Clasico rival.

Messi admitted: “At home when Thiago and Mateo watch football together, Mateo will celebrate Real Madrid goals to p**s off his brother.”

Fans found it hilarious, one said: “This kid is savage.”

Another joked: “Nah Mateo is gonna end up playing for Madrid.”

A third added: “He is a menace.”

Mateo has a history of getting into trouble; at the World Cup, his mother Antonela reprimanded him for throwing gum into the crowd.

Thiago recently enrolled in Inter Miami’s program, and Messi’s children aspire to follow in their father’s athletic footsteps.

Mateo is equally as enthusiastic about football and broke down in tears after Argentina’s World Cup elimination following their loss to Saudi Arabia in Qatar.