Enlarge image
1/23
As a child, Lionel Messi suffered from a hormonal disorder that prevented his growth.
At the age of twelve he was just 1.43 meters tall.
The necessary medicine was too expensive for the family.
In contrast to Argentine clubs, FC Barcelona offered to bear the costs if
Messi, then 13 years old,
moved to Spain for it.
"So we tried our luck in Barcelona," said Messi (in the photo as an 18-year-old) looking back.
He's found happiness, and what's more: Messi has shaped an era like perhaps no other footballer in the history of the sport.
Now it's over.
After 21 years, Messi is leaving the club, as Barca announced.
Photo: DANIEL LUNA / AP
Enlarge image
2/23
May 2005: Messi, 17, has just played a handful of professional appearances when he scores
his first goal
.
Ronaldinho lifts the ball to him, Messi lifts it over the goalkeeper of opponent Albacete, but the goal does not count, Messi is said to have been sidelined.
So the two exceptional talent repeat the whole thing: moments later Ronaldinho lifts the ball a second time to Messi and he lifts it again over the keeper.
This first goal showed what was to come: In top form, Leo Messi scored when he wanted and how he wanted.
Photo: BERNAT AMANGUE / AP
Enlarge image
3/23
That
Ronaldinho
(left) is said to have said after being named World Footballer of the Year 2006: “The best in the world?
I'm not even the best in Barcelona. ”Who could he have been referring to?
Photo: Martin Athenstädt / dpa
Enlarge image
4/23
April 2007:
19-year-old Messi scored
one of the most spectacular goals of his career in the
cup match against
Getafe
.
In his own half near the sideline, Messi gets the ball, then he dribbles off, he hops over slides, prances around the defender and goalkeeper, hits;
the opponents stare at each other first, then Messi, team-mate Samuel Eto'o grabs his head with both hands, the fans in the stadium shout "Meeessi", "Meeessi".
"I've seen goals from Pelé, Maradona and Ronaldo, but this one was the best today," said teammate Deco afterwards.
Photo: Albert Olive / picture-alliance / dpa
Enlarge image
5/23
Messi has played with a lot of great footballers, of course he towered over them all.
Even the one who calls himself "God":
Zlatan Ibrahimović
.
From 2009 to 2010 both played together for one season at Barça before the Swede left the club.
“We don't need this philosopher here.
The dwarf and I will do, ”he had said earlier.
The philosopher, that was trainer Pep Guardiola.
Photo: Albert Olive / dpa
Enlarge image
6/23
“Leo, tomorrow in Madrid you will start outside as always.
At my signal, you let yourself fall behind the midfielders and move between the opposing chains. "These words from the" philosopher ",
coach Guardiola
, were the cornerstone of Messi's
star role
as the
wrong nine
- this is how the author Martí Perarnau describes it in his book" Mr. Guardiola «.
The coach and player are said to have discussed this plan together on the evening before the game against Real Madrid in 2009.
Real was in top form at the time, having won 17 of the 18 league games before.
But the Clásico went to Barcelona, thanks to Messi, final score: 6: 2.
Photo: Gustau Nacarino / REUTERS
Enlarge image
7/23
In May 2009, Barcelona won
the Champions League against Manchester United (2-0)
.
Messi scored a goal he will probably never forget.
Not just because of the meaning, but also because he managed it with his head.
The flea did not allow too many hits of this kind to follow.
Photo: epa ansa Roberto Tedeschi / dpa
8/23
One of the most memorable appearances for Barcelona was Messi in April 2010. The Catalans played at home against
Arsenal
after a 2-2 quarter-final first leg
and were quickly behind.
They made it to the semi-finals anyway, thanks to Messi of course.
The team won
4-1, the Argentine scored all four goals
.
Four goals in a Champions League game outside of the group stage, no footballer had ever succeeded.
The goal in front of which he defeated Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunía will be remembered.
Photo: DARREN STAPLES / REUTERS
Enlarge image
9/23
The following season, in April 2011, Messi scored another iconic goal on the biggest stage.
In the
Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid
, he played the ball in midfield to Sergio Busquets (number 16 in the photo), who provided one of the most unspectacular and therefore most memorable assists in football history.
Busquets took the ball, saw Messi running towards him, and then did: nothing.
He left the ball lying around, Messi grabbed it and dribbled past a total of five Real Madrid players, and overcame goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
Barça progressed and defeated Manchester United again in the final.
Photo: imago images / sportfotodienst
Enlarge image
10/23
In March 2012
Bayer Leverkusen
fell victim to Leo Messi.
In the first leg, two people from Leverkusen fought at halftime about who would get the superstar's jersey, which angered sporting director Rudi Völler.
The second leg then turned into dismantling.
Barcelona won 7-1, Messi became the first player to
score five goals in a Champions League game
.
Photo: imago images / sportfotodienst
11/23
The records that Messi has set are hard to keep track of.
One that got stuck is this one: In December 2012, he scored his goals 85 and 86 in the calendar year.
He exceeded Gerd Müller's record (85 goals in 1972), and in the end there were 91 goals.
"If anyone deserves to overtake me, it's Messi," said Müller at the time.
Photo: Jorge Guerrero / AFP
Enlarge image
12/23
During the Messi era there were some special connections, with Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, for example.
The relationship with Luis Suárez (left) and Neymar (center) appeared extremely intimate.
The three played together from 2014 to 2017 before Neymar left the club for Paris.
"MSN" was the name of the trio that could not really be stopped on the field for any defense.
Messi played with his friend Suárez until 2020 before moving to Atlético.
Now every part of »MSN« has disappeared from Barcelona.
Photo: Siu Wu / AP
Enlarge image
13/23
»Messi« and »Boateng« - these bullet points are probably enough to bring this image to mind.
May 2015, Champions League semi-finals: Messi hits the ball on the right in front of the FC Bayern penalty area and dribbles towards defender Jérôme Boateng, one of the world's best in his position at the time.
Messi hits a hook and while trying to follow him
Boateng simply falls over
.
It was also remarkable how Messi then overcame Manuel Neuer in goal, he lifted the ball over the giant, in the end Barcelona won 3-0 and knocked out the Munich coached by Guardiola.
Photo: imago sportfotodienst / imago / Bernd König
Enlarge image
14/23
One month after the Boateng hook, Messi was allowed
to lift the
2015 Champions League trophy
again
, after FC Bayern Barça had also eliminated Juventus in the final.
It was Messi's fourth European Cup triumph - and the last to this day.
Photo: Kai Pfaffenbach / REUTERS
Enlarge image
15/23
For Messi there were mostly only successes on the pitch.
Besides that, not always.
In 2016, a Barcelona court sentenced him
to 21 months' imprisonment and a fine
for
tax fraud
.
He did not go to jail, which is the custom in Spain when people who have not previously come into conflict with the law are sentenced to under two years' imprisonment.
Photo: Alberto Estevez / REUTERS
16/23
8.3.2017: After a 4-0 defeat in the first leg, Barcelona needed a miracle in the quarter-final second leg of the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain.
The miracle happens.
Barcelona wins 6-1 and is the first team in the competition to advance to the next round after a four-goal deficit.
The game was given its own nickname,
"La Remontada"
, "The
Catching Up
", along with its own Wikipedia article.
Photo: Emilio Morenatti / AP
17/23
Not long afterwards, Messi made another one of those images that football fans will remember.
After his winning goal against Real Madrid in Clásico, he held up his jersey for seconds in front of the stands, the goal was his
500th for the club
.
With 26 goals in 45 games, he is
Clásico's record scorer
.
Photo: Stringer / REUTERS
Enlarge image
18/23
In second place in the Clásico goal ranking are Alfredi di Stéfano - and
Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi's nemesis
.
Both fought a spectacular long-distance duel for years.
Both drove themselves to top performance, fans around the world are still discussing who is the better footballer.
The Portuguese was recognized as a world footballer four times during his time at Real, Messi won five titles (and six in total) during that period.
Incidentally, Ronaldo only won the duel for the top scorer's crown in Spain three times in his nine years in Madrid.
Photo: Alejandro Garcia / picture alliance / dpa
Enlarge image
19/23
Messi has mastered scoring in just about every imaginable way.
Free kicks
are one of his specialties
.
In the past few years he has always met by standard, from a short distance and from a long distance, into the goalie corner over behind the wall.
He succeeded in one of his most impressive free-kick hits in 2019: He shot the ball in the semi-finals of the Champions League against Liverpool from more than 25 meters into the corner.
Photo: JOSE JORDAN / AFP
Enlarge image
20/23
The
homage to Maradona
: After his death in November 2020, Messi honored the other exceptional Argentine player by removing the Barcelona shirt after scoring his own goal, revealing a shirt from Newell's Old Boys.
Both Maradona and Messi once played for the club.
Photo:
ALBERT GEA / REUTERS
Enlarge image
21/23
It is said that Messi is also a
power man
,
someone
who pulls the strings at FC Barcelona.
He is considered a supporter of the newly elected President Joan Laporta (left), who was elected in March this year.
“Mes que un club” is Barça's motto, “more than a club”.
Messi was more than a player.
He is the greatest footballer in the club's history of great footballers.
Photo: LLUIS GENE / AFP
Enlarge image
22/23
Now it is over.
When Barcelona announced the separation on Thursday evening,
some fans came together
at
the Camp Nou stadium
to mourn together.
Photo: ALBERT GEA / REUTERS
Enlarge image
23/23
Messi leaves despite agreeing a contract with the club.
But Barcelona lacks the money.
After
21 years, 35 titles, 778 games, 672 goals and 305 assists
, the biggest is leaving a club that has become his home.
How it will continue is open.
Photo: PAU BARRENA / AFP
mon