Barcelona skipper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has revealed his seven-year on-off relationship with Lionel Messi at Camp Nou as a respectful but occasionally tough one.
The German goalkeeper, in an interview with BILD (via Diario Sport), admitted their relationship could have brought unimaginable success, but it wasn’t always straightforward.
When asked to say what his best memory of Messi was, Ter Stegen grinned, “The good moments or the bad moments? We had them all.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen characterized Messi as a special character, and his reasons were always a little unclear.
“We’ve had times where things didn’t work out between us because he was angry with me, and I was angry with him,” he acknowledged.
The 31-year-old continued to explain Messi’s incredible knack for making the opposing—or even the own teammates—look silly.
“If he’s going to shoot you in the face, he can. Other players would miss, but he hits the target.”
Ter Stegen joked, admitting he’d been in the firing line more than once. But he added they never escalated their disagreements to repeated showdowns.
“Leo is not a loudmouth; he leads with presence. When he speaks, everyone listens,” he said, yielding to the Argentine’s understated but potent authority.
Reflecting on the years they shared, Ter Stegen pointed out Messi’s irreplaceable role.
“His lightness on the pitch is something we’ll never see again,” he declared, to be fortunate to have had Messi, football legend, share the same dressing room.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen is very close to returning to Barcelona’s squad after having a big injury. However, these words may evoke a sense of anger in the fans.
Though their relationship was not without its peaks and troughs, Ter Stegen’s candid remarks paint a picture of respect for one another—and some intense training sessions—between two of Barcelona’s modern-day greats.
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