Lionel Messi's return to International football was never going to pass without incident. Since his three-month ban came to an end, the Argentine has scored the winner against Brazil and secured an injury-time equaliser from the penalty spot against Uruguay. Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez was his rival for 90 minutes on Monday night - but it seems he's made an enemy for life in Brazil boss Tite. The pair clashed in the Superclasico de las Americas when the Selecao manager called for Messi to be booked. In return, the 32-year-old was seen telling him to 'shut up'. 

Tite, donning his finest pair of green-and-yellow-tinted glasses, has now added fuel to their fiery exchange by ridiculing the idea that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is the greatest player of all time. 

"Messi better than Pele? Pele is incomparable," he said, per Marca.

"Anyone who wants to compare Pele with another athlete knows nothing. Messi is extraordinary, but within humans. Pele is outside humans, is outside normal parameters.

"I do not say this because I am Brazilian, I say it because I saw that story, the magnitude of Pelé, his plays, the individual technique, the header, ambidextrous, his strength, his impulse. If you want to find a defect, you will not find it."

Who's going to tell him? 

It's understandable that Brazil were riled by Messi, not least because they felt he went down too easily to win the spot-kick from which he scored the rebound, the only goal of the game. 

Tite was most irked by his own spat with the forward, however, and he made a further comment suggesting he lacks class. 

"As if that were not enough, Pele had an extraordinary charisma," he added.

"What happened with Messi the other day, I just called for a yellow and he told me to shut up."

Perhaps Messi did not conduct himself with the utmost sportsmanship on this occasion. 

Yet his reaction has to be put into context. 

The Barcelona attacker was banned by CONMEBOL for claiming that Copa America 2019 was fixed in Brazil's favour. 

To come up against such pertinent opponents upon his comeback is sure to have boiled his blood. 

What matters is that Messi is back, and it'll be a delight to watch - for all except Tite.