Lionel Messi was led to safety in an Ibiza nightclub after a man appeared to try to attack the Barcelona forward.
The shocking moment was captured on camera, with security guards seen surrounding the Argentina international as he left the venue.
The incident unfolded during an event at the Ushuaia Beach Hotel on the Spanish party island of Majorca , where the 32-year-old was joined by wife Antonela, as well as two of his current Barcelona teammates.
Barca stars Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba were also present, as was long-time pal Cesc Fabregas , who previously played for the Catalan giants between 2011 and 2014.
It is unclear what caused the incident to unfold and who was involved, and there is no suggestion that Messi did anything wrong.
A clip of the nasty scenes has been widely shared on social media, with the post captioned: “A guy in the Ibiza party tried to fight with Messi. Messi is unharmed and was safely escorted out of the area by the security guards.”
The legendary forward had been on holiday in Ibiza along with his wife and his three children - Thiago, Mateo and Ciro.
Messi had been granted an extended break by Barca after featuring for Argentina at the Copa America in Brazil earlier this summer.
The fallout from that competition, in which Messi was sent off in the third place playoff, continues, following Messi's 'corruption' comments.
He was recently handed a one-match international ban for his red card against Chile, but is yet to be sanctioned for his outbursts.
Messi is yet to feature for Barcelona during pre-season, but should be fit for the start of the La Liga season, with Barcelona facing Athletic Bilbao in the season opener on August 16.
That is likely to be the first cleague fixture in which Messi and Suarez are joined by new teammate Antoine Griezmann, after the World Cup winner joined in a £107m switch from Atletico Madrid.
