- 24/06/2025
The diminutive genius talks us through the most iconic moments of his illustrious career, with journalists, teammates and opponents offering insight and analysis into the goals and games that will define his legacy.
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00:00RONALDINIO
00:06No, the truth is that in that moment I didn't think about anything.
00:26I was enjoying playing in the Camp Nou,
00:31to be able to participate in the Barcelona 1,
00:35but the truth is that they didn't start at the goal.
01:01In the Camp Nou,
01:06we are going to die.
01:10We are going to die.
01:15I felt a little nervous and I had a lot of desire.
01:41I had a lot of anxiety for being able to debut,
01:47because it was so expected for me,
01:51so I was a little impatient.
01:54I had been training with them for a long time
01:58and I had all the tranquility and the confidence
02:03necessary for the whole team and the team
02:07to be able to debut with tranquility.
02:10I remember that it was a very special day for me,
02:13for what it meant, for the dream I was looking for.
02:18To be honest, there wasn't much of a buzz about Messi making his debut with the team,
02:30because at the time it was just a kid that came in with number 30 with a shirt that was bigger than his size really.
02:35So when he actually came up into the first team to train,
02:40and he had already jumping teams because he had been in the B-side not for long,
02:45but obviously, like I realized under the recommendation of some of the coaches in the academy
02:51that he was a special talent, so I decided to bring him into the first team.
02:55And at the end of that first training session, Ronaldinho approached somebody and said,
03:02that guy who just came in, 17 year old, is going to be better than me.
03:07This is Ronaldinho, who was the number one in the world at the time,
03:10but realized that there was something very, very special there.
03:13Well, it was a very fast game, where the archer left half of the road,
03:26where the ball was right to hit me, like to throw it up.
03:32The truth is that everything was done to define it in that way.
03:35So it was a very beautiful moment.
03:37The way they celebrated it with me, the joy of everything,
03:42and everything was done for Juan GuilĂn.
03:48Ronaldinho looked after him, and Ronaldinho wanted to give him the ball.
03:51And then, of course, Ronaldinho asked him to jump on top of him.
03:54And you could see this kid, this young Argentinian,
03:58jumping on the back of what he was at the time the best player in the world,
04:02Brazilian.
04:03So Brazilian and Argentinian, but they got on very well.
04:06And you could see in there that Ronaldinho had a special feeling,
04:10as still has, for Messi and vice versa as well.
04:14That relationship grew, and that allowed, for good and bad reasons,
04:19allowed Messi to learn a lot.
04:21It was a very beautiful day for what it meant to be a goal in the world.
04:31It was a very beautiful day for what it meant to be a goal in the world.
04:45I think it was the second game.
04:48The first game I didn't have entered.
04:50I had to go against him for a while and make a goal.
04:52It was really nice.
04:54We played Serbia, one of the toughest defences in Europe at the time.
04:57I think he got to the World Cup with, I think, zero goal conceded.
05:01So that was a great game.
05:04There were some great goals, some great football.
05:06There was a goal that we all remember that we touched the ball 27 times.
05:10I think Cambiazo scored.
05:12Messi started on the bench, I think, and then he came on later.
05:15And then he added to that festival.
05:17We smashed to pieces, one of the toughest defences in world football.
05:22But then we thought, you know, we did okay.
05:26Maybe it is fine.
05:27Messi coming in, bringing something extra, but not at the time.
05:32He was a good player, a very good player, but not what he was about to come.
05:47Can he get the greatest ĐĐ°Zone manager for a long time?
05:54I wanted to make that three goals in the Classic was incredible.
05:56It was lovely to make it 3 goals against Madrid, because it's a game where everyone can see and follow up on.
06:05in the world.
06:10Leo Messi changes the energy of everyone.
06:16When Leo Messi sees in his eyes,
06:20I know him, I know him since he was 16 years old,
06:23I look at his eyes and see in his eyes
06:26when he decides to win the games.
06:29And I see in the eyes of Messi
06:31when he is capable of creating in the field
06:35an absolute psychosis in the rival.
06:38He, like Ronaldo, the gorgito,
06:41provoca fear.
06:44And that fear inmovilizes the rival.
06:48It's one of the few futbolists
06:51who is capable of congeling the image.
06:54The rest of the defense
06:56doesn't move.
06:58It's like if they were congelados
07:00in Messi.
07:01Leo Messi provoca that effect
07:03and it provoca especially
07:04in the players of the Real Madrid.
07:17The truth is, I don't think about the game
07:20when I'm in the field.
07:23and it comes down
07:24and so on.
07:25And he goes down,
07:27and he go down,
07:29and he is going through the space,
07:30and it's been able to discover the path
07:31and continue.
07:32And you finish down the goal
07:33What I wanted to do
07:35but it was a shame to get the ball,
07:37I can't imagine anything.
07:38What I always remember is a game in training, the boys from Barça B, we always mix the team.
07:46I was with a player from Barça B, and the Messi encarou him.
07:50And I was behind, against the goal.
07:52I said, don't enter, don't enter.
07:55Then the guy went back, and went back.
07:57I said, stop, stop.
07:58And when he went to shoot, we just did it.
08:00He just did it inside.
08:02The two on the floor, just did it.
08:04So, if you enter, he'll be dribbling.
08:06If you wait, he'll be dribbling too.
08:08So, it's almost impossible to mark him.
08:11The Messi, we've been fighting since the base category.
08:16When the Messi came to the futebol in 2005, the World Cup in Germany,
08:20we made the semi-final Brazil and Argentina.
08:22And he was the best player in the game.
08:26He was the best player in the competition.
08:28So, everyone saw that there was a phenomenon.
08:31Everyone was firm on him, he did a lot of pressure on him, and he didn't answer anything.
08:35He didn't complain.
08:36I've never seen him complain about a stronger point.
08:39This is the difference.
08:40Everyone knows that the more you beat, he'll come to the top.
08:43So, it's cool. I admire him.
08:45He is the best player for the Sun and the Premier League,
08:46to win.
08:48For the basketball, we are playing in Brazil.
08:51From the代ăă, we will be playing in Brazil.
08:53From the country that has been playing in Brazil.
08:55From the world of Germany.
08:57From the World Cup and Germany.
08:59From the world on Brazil.
09:01That championship, that trip was one of the most specials in my career, one of the most
09:08remembered, one of the most beautiful things about the Olympic Games, not only for being
09:14champions, we had the chance to achieve it, but also for the life that I had to live in
09:20the little while we were in the Olympic Games. I have a very beautiful memory of that championship.
09:27The Olympics were an outstanding day. We tried many times, we lost finals, and it was special.
09:35Bielsa convinced everybody that it was worth it. Leo, I think he had these issues with Barcelona
09:43about being released. He managed to get there. It was very important. It was an outstanding day.
09:49We won World Cups, but the Olympic Games is something that we really, really wanted.
09:53In fact, our neighbors, the Brazilians, they had to wait a bit longer than us, and they
09:57also waited for a long time. So the Olympic football, it's not a World Cup, but it's
10:01very, very important. It was something that Leo Messi was fundamental to achieve.
10:07But for anybody to doubt what he's been doing for Argentina, it's outrageous, and I think
10:17they probably will realize when he's gone. In a way, Argentina is living a golden era, because
10:23they've been in a World Cup final, they've been in two American Cup finals, and when you win or lose,
10:31it's just down to little details. It could have gone one way or the other. Some of them, of course,
10:36were goals in extra time or were wins at penalty shootouts. So to say that Leo Messi is not
10:45doing well with Argentina is basically not realizing that they are living a special moment.
10:50What kind of games have you been doing for the first time?
10:52Well, it can happen. They're partidos, they get different ways. I also played Madrid for four
11:05goals. They are circumstances that are given. Partidos that, for one thing or another,
11:10they decide that way. And that time, we had to win like that. It's special for everyone,
11:18for how it won in the Bernabéu, because it was a new position for me in that game, because
11:28we had invented something new with me, and we would probably be talking about all that.
11:36Well, for sure it's not the easiest player to stop. You know, he has so many qualities, and he can do so many
11:45different things that it's difficult to find out how to stop him.
11:49When I was in that game, I remember that when we were in the match, we came back together
11:56and I said,
11:59You've seen the best part of Messi, and he said, no, the best part of Messi will be the next part.
12:05But that day, you saw the faces of people in the Bernabéu, and everyone told me,
12:13Why Messi is the Barça?
12:23Yes, obviously in that moment I thought and imagined that goal
12:29and well, I understand and thank God it came out.
12:32It was a very important goal in all the senses,
12:38for me in the individual, for the team,
12:41for the final, it was one of the most beautiful goals for me.
12:48In that moment it seemed difficult to win with Ferdinand in front,
12:55but it fell right where I was, where I didn't have a mark
13:00and it was just the center to win.
13:11We always tried to defend ourselves well.
13:14We had a very good team, we defended very well.
13:17There was Ferdinand, there was Vida, there was Patrice,
13:20there were players who were experienced in football
13:22and we knew that we would be playing with a great quality team.
13:25At the same time we had to defend ourselves,
13:27but we had players to attack, like Cristiano Ronaldo,
13:30like Tevis, like Rooney, like Disson Park, like Giggs.
13:33So, for us, we were at the same level of Barcelona this year,
13:36because we had already won the English Championship
13:38and we were also competing for the second Champions League.
13:42So, we were so confused.
13:44That was the moment of the game where we were at the top of the Barcelona,
13:54where Tevis had lost a ball, where he had crossed,
13:57he had shot, the goalie had caught,
14:00we were at the top of the Barcelona,
14:01and at the moment, we didn't care about it,
14:03we ended up making the goal.
14:04Daniel's crossing.
14:06The final Champions League 2009
14:09started really in the ClĂĄsico previously,
14:12because just before the ClĂĄsico,
14:15Pep Guardiola asked very late in the day,
14:20Leo Messi, to come to the training ground,
14:22Messi doesn't live far away from it,
14:25and showed him some clips, some videos and said,
14:27you know that space here,
14:29in between the holding midfielders and the centre-backs,
14:31I want you to play there.
14:33That was the beginning of the false nine role
14:36that he played for Barcelona.
14:37Barcelona killed Real Madrid,
14:40but of course, it seems to me that Manchester United
14:42had not stood that game properly,
14:44because what happened in the Champions League final,
14:47was that Messi started on the right-hand side,
14:50Eto'o was in the centre of the attack,
14:52and after ten minutes,
14:55Cristiano Ronaldo had a chance for Manchester United,
14:58that could have put them ahead,
15:00still nil-nil,
15:02Pep Guardiola asked Eto'o and Messi to change places,
15:05so Eto'o went on the right-hand side,
15:07Messi came inside,
15:09and then he became not just a false nine,
15:11but linked as well with the midfield.
15:13They created superiority in the midfield.
15:15Manchester United did not know how to deal with that,
15:18and basically that was the beginning of the victory of Barcelona.
15:37It's something really nice to be the goalkeeper
15:41of a great league,
15:43so beautiful, so important,
15:45with so many players
15:47of a great level level
15:49for this league
15:51and being the best goalkeeper
15:53is really a good statistic.
15:58Well, I remember when he beat the record,
16:00I talked to Leo,
16:01you remember,
16:02Zara was a mythic,
16:04he had an absolute record
16:06and he told me,
16:07I don't play for the records,
16:09I play to pass it well.
16:11This is a player that my generation
16:14has not seen before.
16:15I don't think we've ever seen before.
16:18And it's down to the consistency of his efforts,
16:21his performances in big games as well.
16:24The fact that he's carried a team like Barcelona
16:27to win everything.
16:28And Barcelona won with
16:30Pep Guardiola,
16:31with Tito Villanova,
16:32with Tata Martino,
16:33with Luis Enrique.
16:35And in the middle of all that,
16:37there was one thing coinciding
16:39and that was Messi.
16:40So we're talking about the team
16:42that perhaps is one of the greatest in history,
16:44certainly one that has changed history,
16:46but again,
16:47it coincides that has Messi in it.
16:54It was a long day,
16:57because everything was done.
16:59It was a long day,
17:01because everything was done.
17:03To be the 500 goal,
17:05the 3-2 goal in the last minute.
17:07It was a game where,
17:08if we didn't win,
17:09we almost left out of the league.
17:14It was a goal that gave us hope
17:16to continue to dream about the league.
17:19It was a game that we deserved to win
17:21as it had been given.
17:23And, well,
17:24winning in the last minute
17:25was very special
17:27for all the barcelonists.
17:29For me,
17:30because he is the best player in the world,
17:32it is,
17:33for me,
17:34he managed to be 10 years
17:36on the same level.
17:38And his level is different from the rest.
17:41To be able to do that
17:43for 10 years,
17:44it is something very little,
17:46or almost nothing.
17:48And then,
17:49he adds up
17:50with the quality
17:51that he has
17:52and it is already
17:54the best of history.
18:11I think that
18:12the goal is not all
18:13in a game
18:14or in a player.
18:15a new player.
18:25I'm even a surreal player.
18:26A player out of the planet.
18:39One of the greatest
18:40in the last years and he's so influential for Barcelona.
19:10The best thing to talk about him will be a lot because he's a guy who doesn't have comments.
19:17What he does inside the field is inexplicable.
19:20He's a great player.
19:26Leo Messi is a source of happiness.
19:28Happiness is the highest level, right?
19:30Here they say that Leo Messi is better than to do love with your partner.
19:34Because it's more prolonged than Leo Messi.
19:38And that's what people feel here in Barcelona.
19:46This question about Messi being the greatest player ever
19:49is one that perhaps in ten years time will look back and say
19:52why did we even ask?
20:08Here we go.
20:10This question can be used here in Barcelona the galaxy,
20:14which as far as the bolag's room that we already found at least inćŃŃĐ°ĐČĐ»Ń.
20:16At least no one will not be used as well.
20:18Here is our battle Đ°Ń Cambridge to develop a newionar ŃŃŃ Beatown.
20:21For more ì°ëŠŹë Messi, our flawed partner will be associated with zero power.
20:25immerse ì æ At least one of the best of most important moments on
20:29was the betternut film is right now.
20:31At least one of the best equals one of the best coming in the last 50 years.
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