Watch: Lionel Messi sent off in a bizarre clash with Gary Medel as Argentina secure Copa America bronze

Lionel Messi’s Copa America ended on a farcical note as the Argentina striker was sent off following a bizarre clash with Chile defender Gary Medel.

Argentina led the 3^rd/4^th place play-off 2-0 with just under nine minutes to go in the second half when the Barcelona striker got involved in an altercation with Medel.

Former Cardiff City player Medel took exception to Messi’s attempts to muscle him off the ball and confronted the Argentina captain.

The two bumped chests on a number of occasions before Chile goalkeeper Gabriel Arias attempted to calm the situation, but to little avail as both players were shown straight red cards.

Here the full video:

Messi giving a very nasty stamp on the ankle to Medel from behind with ball far.

Medel reacting by trying to headbutting Messi.

Could be both yellow.

If ref has strict disciplinary policy, then it’s ok to give both red cards pic.twitter.com/bb0hVzZDZ6

— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) July 6, 2019

It’s a sour end to the tournament for Messi, whose side struggled in their group games, losing their opening game with Colombia before being held to a draw by Paraguay.

They were comfortably beaten by Brazil in the semi-finals but had fared better on Saturday as goals from Sergio Aguero and Pablo Dybala had them 2-0 up before the red card incident.

Arturo Vidal pulled a goal back for Chile from the penalty spot 14 minutes into the second half but it was La Albiceleste who prevailed.