An amazing story has the ability to capture the hearts of the audience, deliver elements of surprise and of course, leave the audience craving more. The story of Lionel Messi contains all these elements and more — Messi, once a little boy from Rosario, Argentina, made the impossible possible.
Messi arrived in Barcelona, a strange land halfway around the world, at the turn of the millennium. The scrawny, 13-year-old was deemed unfit to compete at the top level due to his short, skinny stature. Yet, to everyone’s surprise, he quickly rose through the ranks of the club’s famous youth teams, dazzling everyone who watched him even at his young age. Soon after his debut, he began to replace some of the best players in the world at the time.
By all means, Messi achieved everything he could with the club: 778 games, 672 goals, 288 assists, 10 La Liga titles, eight Spanish Super Cups, seven Copas del Rey, four Champions Leagues, three Club World Cups and three European Super Cups. Individually, he amassed seven European Golden Boots and six Ballons d’Or, making him one of the most individually decorated players of all time. He holds nearly every single record for FC Barcelona, Spain and Europe. Messi undoubtedly leaves as a king, having conquered the world while being regarded as the greatest player of all time.
And yet, there is something debilitating about this ending. Messi’s story seems incomplete, just needing one final chapter to satisfyingly end his legacy. In an increasingly commercialized footballing world, there is something tragically romantic about having the best player to ever grace the sport be the North Star for the same team his entire career.
His journey with FC Barcelona ends in the face of over $1.4 billion in debt, forcing the club to let go of their prodigal son. His story does not end in a messy divorce, but rather a mutually accepted inevitability, a necessity due to gross mismanagement and incompetence. His story concludes against his wishes because of numerous expensive transfer flops and the financial challenges brought by COVID-19. And yet, after two decades and undisputed love for the city and club, Messi departs FC Barcelona. The little boy from Argentina, who came with a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes to get a growth hormone treatment to play football, signed his first Barcelona contract on a napkin at a little cafe in the city, all while dazzling some of the greatest coaches and players to ever grace the game.
There are many ways to summarize Messi’s reign at Barcelona — mythical, historic, even Shakespearean. Yet, one word sticks out more than the rest: unfinished. That’s how I would describe this story. Unfinished, for there will be no redemption, no return to the Golden Age.
He is a man of many names. “La Pulga” (The Flea), as the media called him, for his small figure and rapid pace at which he appeared all over the pitch. To fans, Messi is “El Rey” (The King), for the way he watched over Barcelona. “Dios” (God), he was to those watching him live, praying for a miracle whenever the team was in need. Yet, all of them could simply watch, as he broke into tears on his final day, bidding adieu to the ones that made him and to the fans he gave everything for. Football’s greatest love story thus comes crumbling down in a tragic end.
The halls of Camp Nou watched him leave the pitch for the last time in blaugrana colors on May 16, in a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Celta Vigo. The stands were empty and hauntingly silent. Still, if you closed your eyes and listened carefully, you would have heard the faint echoes of a hundred thousand fans chanting “Messi, Messi, Messi” one last time, as if nothing had changed at all.
Gracias, Leo.
Lionel Messi in action against Paris Saint-Germain F.C. (PSG). After spending his whole career with FC Barcelona, Messi recently made the move to PSG. (Wikimedia Commons/Hugo Pérez Marsol)
Aayush Gupta (22B) is from Singapore, majoring in finance. He is passionate about soccer and is a die-hard fan of FC Barcelona. His other interests include endlessly talking about movies, international geopolitics, philosophy and dabbling in photography. Contact Gupta at aayush.gupta@emory.edu.
