• The goodbye of a myth Leo Messi closes his stage in the Barça

  • Exclusive EL MUNDO The pharaonic contract that ruins Barça

With the goodbye of

Leo Messi

, confirmed this Thursday by the club, Barça loses the best player in its history.

His statistics confirm it without any doubt.

And that, through the ranks of the club, players of the stature of

Johan Cruyff

,

Diego Armando Maradona

or

Ladislao Kubala

passed

. The record of the Argentine striker, who turned 33 on June 24, is tremendously compelling. With him on the squad, the entity has won four of its five European Cups. He could not be on the pitch or on the bench in the second, the one achieved against Arsenal in Paris in 2006, due to injury, but it was decisive in the next three, the two achieved against United in 2009 and 2011, and the conquered against Juventus, in 2015, with his friends

Luis Suárez

and

Neymar

at his side.

This 2020 marks the 17th anniversary of his debut with the first team led by

Frank Rijkaard

. It was on November 16, 2003, against Porto, in Do Dragao, that forced them to juggle to be able to see it on television. The duel ended with a 2-0 Barça defeat, but saw the Argentine debut in the second half, with the 14th, a number with a lot of symbolism in the entity (it was Cruyff's favorite) on his back.

Its official premiere, however, would not take place until almost a year later, in a derby against Espanyol played on October 16, 2004 and that ended 0-1 for Barça. The first of his 633 goals as a Barcelona player, an absolute record for the club, would arrive on May 1, 2015, against Albacete. And in fact, he dialed it twice. The first, practically a copy of the one that would go up to the scoreboard, was annulled for offside.

With Rijkaard he was gaining importance, but the coach who gave him the definitive boost so that his legend began to tread strongly was

Pep Guardiola

. The partnership he formed with

Dani Alves

on the right wing during the early stages of the 2008-09 season was already lethal, but his danger multiplied when Santpedor's opted to position him as a false center forward. Real Madrid would suffer it in their flesh in a match that would end with a victory at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium by 2-6. With the current City coach on the bench, the Argentine would also win the first of the six Ballons d'Or that appear on his record. Another absolute record that, right now, only

Cristiano Ronaldo

, with five under his belt, can threaten to match it.

THE DUELS WITH CRISTIANO

The duels with the Portuguese during the stage in which he remained in the ranks of Real Madrid were absolutely frenetic.

Even when his two teams weren't meeting each other on the pitch.

A struggle that helped him not to lose his ambition.

In the 2008-09 campaign, Messi achieved the first of his

seven Pichichis

, with a total of 34 goals that would also earn him the first of his six Golden Boots. Cristiano Ronaldo would surpass him the following year with 40. An affront that the Argentine he avenged scoring 50 and 46 goals in 2011-12 and 2012-13, respectively.

La Liga, precisely, is the title that he has managed to win the most as a Barcelona player: he has done it 10 times.

It is followed by the Spanish Super Cup, with eight trophies, the King's Cup, with six, the Champions Cup, with four titles, and the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup, each with three trophies.

The Champions, on the other hand, is his great thorn in the tooth.

At the World Cup level, how much he resists with Argentina.

Four consecutive years of blows in Europe, with Bayern's very tough 2-8 as the culmination, have been too much in the end.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Leo Messi

  • soccer

  • sports

  • First division

  • FC Barcelona

  • HBPR

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