IN SPORT, PEOPLE talk about respect a lot. They are always earning it, demanding it, getting it, not getting it, being shown too much or not enough.

This week in particular though they were talking about it a lot.

Now just so we’re clear: that Barcelona penalty WAS disrespectful. Though it depends on your understanding of ‘respect’.

If you think Celta Vigo should have been afforded the respect you might give, say, a Chinese trade delegation with whom you wish to conclude a lucrative business deal, then yes, Messi’s penalty was taking a bit of a liberty. But if you are not a career diplomat, and live in the juvenile and piss-takey world that most of us inhabit these days, you were probably retweeting and sharing it with the best of them.

Messi and Suarez meant no harm; certainly there have been countless theories expounded to justify the stunt. But whether you thought it was a self-indulgent prank or a perfectly acceptable tactic matters little to Barcelona’s in-form attacking trident.

At the moment, Messi, Neymar and Suarez are in a collective reverie, a three-way telepathy which has become about much more than scoring goals and beating opposition. They are locked in a joyous jam, like a ’70s rock supergroup trading incendiary guitar solos.

But in the context of this week, there’s been something charmingly old-fashioned about the debate as to whether the Barcelona penalty showed sufficient ‘respect’.

How quaint to have Messi’s subterfuge damned as falling short of some Victorian ideal of gentlemanly conduct, when all around him the world of sport seemed devoid of any sense of respect at all.

In the direct aftermath of that penalty we had the treatment meted out to BT Sport presenter Lynsey Hipgrave, whose crime was to voice on Twitter her opinion that Messi had indeed shown a lack of respect toward Celta.

She soon found out the real meaning of disrespect in a torrent of vile misogyny, the kind that makes you wonder if the woman-hating saddos responsible could possibly have sisters or mothers of their own, and whether a few clips across the ear from the latter might be too much to ask for.

In another corner of the online idiotsphere, Paris Saint-Germain defender Serge Aurier was warming up for a crucial Champions League tie with some strongly worded disrespect of his own.

Using the public forum of Periscope to voice some decidedly private views about his coach and his team’s star player, Aurier chose the sadly familiar lexicon of homophobia that survives mainly on the internet and in particularly unenlightened playgrounds.

Prompted by a shisha pipe-smoking accomplice, Aurier’s adolescent slurs on Laurent Blanc and Zlatan Ibrahimovic earned him suspension and the probable end of his PSG career.

At least Aurier’s gripe was specifically directed at Blanc and Ibrahimovic rather than the entire gay population of humanity.

Ticking off that particular box in this week of disrespect was boxing superstar Manny Pacquaio. The eight-weight world champion was campaigning for political office in the Philippines when he told TV interviewers that gay people are “worse than animals”, presumably thinking it a solid vote-winning stance in his native land. His sponsors weren’t as impressed and despite an apology from Pacquiao, Nike dropped him to the canvas with a haymaker of a contractual termination.

Joleon Lescott. PA Wire / Press Association Images PA Wire / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Aston Villa defender Joleon Lescott, meanwhile, was in the firing line for disrespecting his club’s supporters, though his biggest crime was insulting their intelligence.

Lescott’s initial analysis of his team’s feeble 6-0 defeat to Liverpool consisted solely of a tweeted photo of a Mercedes supercar. What could this subtle message mean, we wondered? A tribute to opposing manager Jurgen Klopp, a similarly expensive German import? Reassurance for fans worried that the soon-to-be relegated Lescott may face the privations of public transport next season?

Alas, as Lescott later explained, “the tweet sent out from my account involving a picture of a car was totally accidental…it happened whilst driving and my phone was in my pocket”. The news that Lescott’s trousers have become a self-aware social media hub has yet to be greeted with excitement in the scientific community.

So that’s disrespect to opposing teams, managers, team-mates, women, the gay community and supporters all in one week. The thing is, this week wasn’t particularly unusual given the conveyor belt of outrage and shock that big-time sport is generally accompanied by.

In that context, making allowances for Lionel Messi is only fair. Great artists need to be tolerated and indulged and it is hardly like Messi, with his altar-boy haircuts and goofy smile is a subversive Andy Warhol-type figure. He and his two pals are just messing around with a ball, in a very special way.

So while the penalty wasn’t of the standard of respect required for a papal visit or a meeting with a future father-in-law, this week in particular it felt like one of the less disrespectful things on show.

Spurs come away from Italy with a draw but Alli a lucky boy after kicking out

New low for LVG as United slump to Europa League loss in Denmark