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Lionel Messi is considered one of the greatest players of all time. The Argentine football legend seemed destined to be a Barcelona player until the very end. But now, Messi's relationship with the Catalan club appears to have come to an end. On the afternoon of August 8th, Lionel Messi held an official press conference announcing his departure from Barcelona after 21 years.
Over 21 years, Messi transformed from a humble trainee at La Masia academy into one of the greatest icons of 21st-century football. Let's look back at 20 memorable moments in Lionel Messi's illustrious career at Barcelona.
October 2004: La Liga debut
At just 17 years old, Messi made his official debut for Barcelona, coming on as a substitute late in a match against Espanyol. At that time, Messi was the youngest player to ever play for a club in an official match. Before joining the renowned La Masia academy in 2000, he transferred from the Argentinian club Newell's Old Boys when he was only 13 years old.
August 2005: International launch
At 18 years old, Messi made his debut for the Argentina national team in a friendly match against Hungary. He came on as a substitute in the 63rd minute but received a red card and was sent off just two minutes later for elbowing defender Vilmos Vanczak.
December 2005: The Golden Boy
The world began to take notice of Messi when he was honored with the Golden Boy award – the award given to the best young player in Europe.
March 2006: First international target
After a difficult start to his international career, Messi scored his first goal for Argentina with a left-footed shot after a dribble in a friendly match against Croatia.
June 2006: World Cup debut
Coming on in the 74th minute of the match against Serbia and Montenegro, Messi became the youngest player ever to represent Argentina at the World Cup. He scored in the 6-0 victory, becoming the youngest goalscorer in the tournament and the sixth youngest goalscorer in the tournament's history. However, Argentina were eliminated in the quarter-finals after a defeat to host nation Germany.
March 2007: First hat-trick for Barcelona
At this time, Messi had already become famous as one of the most talked-about teenage players in world football. His three goals against Real Madrid in 2007 made him a prominent name in the sport. This was Messi's first hat-trick for Barcelona, marking the beginning of a series of other spectacular hat-tricks.
April 2007: Messi's greatest goal?
Very few goals in the history of world football can compare to this one by Messi. The 20-year-old displayed his innate skill, dribbling past several Getafe defenders to score what is widely considered the greatest goal of his career.
August 2008: Olympic gold medal
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Barcelona initially banned Messi from participating. However, the new coach, Pep Guardiola, later allowed him to join. Along with his young teammates and close friends, such as Sergio Aguero and Angel di Maria, Messi helped Argentina achieve a perfect record and win the gold medal at the Games.
May 2009: Successfully conquered the Champions League.
Messi won the Champions League in 2006. In 2009, he finished the tournament as the top scorer and impressed in the final against Manchester United, winning 2-0 at the Rome Stadium (Italy). Messi has won a total of four European titles in his career to date.
December 2009: The first Ballon d'Or.
Messi is the first Argentinian player to win the European Golden Ball and the sixth Barcelona legend to receive this honor.
July 2010: A sad World Cup season.
At the 2010 World Cup, Germany defeated Argentina in the quarter-finals with a resounding 4-0 victory. Messi was still named in the ideal team, but the coach and Argentinian legend Diego Maradona was sacked after the World Cup.
August 2011: Became captain of Argentina
Following the lackluster 2011 Copa America tournament held in Argentina, Messi was appointed captain of the national team under new coach Alejandro Sabella.
March 2012: Barcelona's goalscoring record.
At the age of 24, goals were constantly coming for Messi, and he broke Barcelona's goalscoring record previously held by Cesar Rodriguez.
July 2014: World Cup failure
Argentina lost 1-0 to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final due to a goal by Mario Götze in extra time. Messi reluctantly accepted the Golden Ball award for the best player of the tournament.
November 2014: La Liga goalscoring record.
Messi broke Telmo Zarra's record of 251 La Liga goals. Once again, Messi scored a hat-trick against Sevilla to climb to the top of the all-time scoring charts. He now has 444 goals and 10 league titles.
June 2016: A disappointing Copa America season.
Messi's goal in the Copa America Centenario quarter-final made him Argentina's all-time leading scorer, with a total of 54 goals. However, after losing the 2015 Copa America final to Chile, the 2016 match ended similarly. Messi announced his retirement from international football.
August 2016: Changed mind about retirement.
After a short campaign to persuade Messi to change his mind about retirement, which included a message from Argentine President Mauricio Macri and a statue of Messi in Buenos Aires, the Barcelona star decided to continue playing for La Albiceleste. Messi said: "My love for my country and this shirt is too great."
August 2019: Banned from competing
Following a disappointing 2018 World Cup, in the 2019 Copa America, Messi was sent off in the 37th minute of the third-place match. He received a red card for allegedly insulting the referee. He refused to accept the third-place medal and received a three-month international ban and a $50,000 fine.
December 2019: Record number of Ballon d'Or wins.
Messi's club career achievements can only be challenged by Cristiano Ronaldo. The two superstars shared the same number of Ballon d'Or awards for a decade, until 2019, when Messi won his sixth Ballon d'Or while Ronaldo remained at five.
August 2020: The... disastrous performance of Barcelona
Barcelona's tumultuous season culminated in the Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich. Messi and Barca suffered a humiliating 8-2 defeat, marking the beginning of a crisis for the Catalan club.
After 21 years at Barca, Messi has won a total of 35 titles, scoring 672 goals in 778 matches. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, the most titles, and also the player with the most Ballon d'Or awards.
