Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi’s incredible 17-season career at Barcelona seems to be coming to an end.
Here are some of its most important dates:
24 June 1987 Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina.
December 14, 2000 – After his debut as a children’s event at Newell’s Old Boys, Messi crossed the Atlantic to try for a spot at Barcelona’s La Masia youth academy. Club official Charlie Rexach wrote and signed his first contract with Barcelona on a napkin after sharing a beer with a mediator representing Messi.
November 16, 2003 – Frank Rijkaard made his Messi debut at the age of 16 in a friendly against the Porto side coached by Jose Mourinho.
16 October 2004 Messi played the first official match for Barcelona at the age of 17.
17 May 2006 – Messi won his first Champions League title and barely missed the final against Arsenal due to injury. During the 2005–06 season he earned a spot in Barcelona’s attack along with Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o.
March 10, 2007 – Messi scored his first hat-trick for Barcelona in a 3-3 draw against Real Madrid.
27 May 2009 – Messi won his second Champions League by defeating Manchester United 2–0 in the final. With the departure of Ronaldinho and the appointment of Pep Guardiola as coach, Messi has become Barcelona’s undisputed start. He has joined forces with Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez to lead Barcelona to a rare treble of European Cup, Spanish League and Copa del Rey titles.
December 1, 2009 – Messi won his first of a record six Ballon d’Or awards for best player in soccer. He will win the award again in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019.
May 28, 2011 – Messi won his third Champions League to complete a season double with his fifth Spanish league title. He scored from outside the field to take the winning goal in a 3–1 win over Manchester United in the European final.
March 7, 2012 Messi became the first player to score five times in a Champions League match beating Bayer Leverkusen 7-1.
March 20, 2012 – At the age of 24, Messi became Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer after surpassing Cesar Rodriguez’s 232 goals. He will score 672 goals for Barcelona.
December 9, 2012 – Messi surpassed Gerd Müller’s 1972 record of scoring 85 goals for club and country in one year. He ended 2012 with 91 goals for Barcelona and Argentina.
November 22, 2014 Messi became the Spanish league’s all-time scorer after surpassing Telmo Zara’s 251 goals. He scored 474 goals in La Liga.
June 6, 2015 – Messi won the Champions League for the fourth and last time after Barcelona beat Juventus 3-1 in the final.
6 July 2016 Messi and father Jorge Messi have been found guilty of defrauding Spain’s tax office of 4.1 million euros (then $4.6 million) in undisclosed revenue from image rights. Messi and his father, who acts as his agent, are sentenced to 21 months in prison, but the sentence is waived by a judge because they are first-time offenders.
November 25, 2017 – Messi signed his last contract with Barcelona, which is a five-year contract lasting until June 30, 2021. Spanish newspaper El Mundo revealed years later that the deal would earn Messi 138 million euros ($168 million) per campaign, making him the highest-paid. in the World Games.
April 27, 2019 – Messi won the Spanish league for the 10th and last time.
February 5, 2020 – Messi rebuked Barcelona sporting director Eric Abidal for questioning the struggling team’s effort after firing coach Ernesto Valverde.
July 17, 2020 – Messi called his team “weak and uncertain” after losing the league title.
August 25, 2020 – Messi sent a fax to the Barcelona board saying he wanted to leave the club’s first season in more than a decade without a title. His request was denied and he later said that he would play the final year on his contract before deciding his future.
December 23, 2020 – Messi surpasses Pele’s 643-goal milestone for a club.
April 17, 2021 – Messi scored twice to give Barcelona a 4-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the final of the Copa del Rey. Messi’s seventh domestic cup takes his club record for Barcelona to 35 titles.
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