LIONEL MESSI left fans stunned with the “coldest reply ever” after his former team-mate was accused of spitting on him.

The legendary forward came on as a sub as Argentina beat their South American rivals Paraguay 1-0 in a qualifier for the 2026 World Cup.

Messi, who captained Argentina to last year’s trophy in Qatar, was cheered on by home fans following his latest club spell with Inter Miami.

However, the game took a sour turn when Messi clashed with Paraguay striker Antonio Sanabria.

The Torino forward, who was a youngster at Barcelona between 2009 and 2013 during Messi’s reign as Nou Camp king, cut an unhappy figure as time ticked down.

Video from the match showed Messi mouthing something at Sanabria before walking away.

And it’s at this moment that the Paraguay ace is accused of spitting at Messi in retaliation.

The alleged incident was not seen by match officials.

Sanabria denies spitting at Messi, saying: “I was looking at the image, it seems like I spit out but no, there’s nothing to see, it was far away.

“Nothing happened with Messi. It seems like I spit out but there’s nothing to see, it was far away and I totally deny it.”

However, that didn’t stop Messi from delivering a brutal put-down of Sanabria after the final whistle.

He said: “The truth is that I didn’t see it. They told me in the locker room that one of them had spit on me.

“The truth is I don’t even know who this guy is, I didn’t see him, they only told me.

“I don’t want to give important (talk) either because he’s going to come out, talk everywhere and it’s worse.

“It’s going to become known so it’s better to leave it there.”

Fans were left stunned by Messi’s words, with some hailing his reply as the “coldest ever.”

One said: “That’s the coldest reply he’s ever given.”

Another declared: “Damn, that will cut Sanabria deep considering he was in Barca youth teams and even trained with the first team.”

One noted: “Nah Messi cooked him bad.”

Another added: “At least he (Sanabria) is realising how big he is.”