By Rita Chioma,

Lionel Messi’s mother has been accused of trying to upstage her daughter-in-law as she turned up to the couple’s wedding wearing an almost identical white dress.

The Barcelona football star and his childhood sweetheart, Antonella Roccuzzo tied the knot on Friday.

The wedding preparations had been dogged with rumours of a long-standing rift between Messi’s mother Celia Cuccittini and Antonella’s side of the family.

Argentinian media had reported that the Messis had booked an entire floor of the City Center Rosario hotel complex, with Antonella’s family occupying another floor, because the two families are not on speaking terms.

But there were shocked gasps after the civil ceremony when Celia arrived with husband, Jorge on the red carpet wearing a silver white lace gown which was strikingly similar to that of the bride.

It is already considered a lack of respect in Argentina for any other guest or family member at a wedding to wear white except for the bride.

For many in Argentina, the choice of dress was an attempt to compete with the woman who, according to reports, she never wanted to marry her famous son.

Hours before the wedding, another Messi family member confirmed rumours of a feud within the family.

One of the footballer’s aunts was caught out live on TV revealing bitterly that she hadn’t been invited to the wedding.

When the woman found out she was live on air she hung up, and when the show called again she answered in tears, blamed Messi’s ‘horrible’ mother Celia for being shafted from the ceremony.

She added that Celia had ‘split up’ the family, complaining that more relatives from her side of the family had received invites to the wedding than that of Messi’s father, Jorge.