Argentina captain Lionel Messi described the actions of the police against the Argentine fans as "madness" and demanded that it cannot happen again.

Argentina's 1-0 away win over Brazil in a bad-tempered World Cup qualifier had been delayed by half an hour on Tuesday after police clashed with fans at a sold-out Maracana Stadium.

The world champions, led by captain Lionel Messi, went over to the terraces to try and calm the situation before leaving the pitch and returning to the dressing room for more than 10 minutes.

Messi criticized the Brazilian police in harsh terms both in television statements and through a post on his official Instagram account.

"We saw how they were hitting people" the Argentine captain was quoted as saying by La Nacion.

"The same thing happened in the Libertadores final, repressing the people with sticks," he added.

"There were players who had family there. You think about the family and the people who are there who don't really know what's going on and that's why you're more focused on that than on the game, which at that point is secondary."

Asked about the second decision, which was to retire to the locker room, Messi explained: "We did that because it was the way to calm everything down a little. We were there and from below we couldn't do much and we saw how they hit the guy and threw him back...A misfortune could have happened".

Nicolas Otamendi scored with a towering header to hand victory to the world champions.

"This team continues to make history… Great victory at the Maracaná although it will be marked by the repression of Argentines once again in Brazil .This cannot be tolerated, it is crazy and it has to end now!" Messi later posted on Instagram.