Lionel Messi reflects on his Barcelona move back in 2000: “It felt a bit weird at first”

Barcelona legend Lionel Messi has admitted that back when he first arrived at Barcelona, everything felt so weird to him. However, the club’s gesture to help him with all the little things made a difference to him.

Messi first arrived at Barcelona in 2000, but it wasn’t until 2002 that he got to play with the youth team owing to transfer conflicts. However, upon being integrated into the youth team squad, he soon began training with the senior team.

Upon his arrival in Catalonia, Messi had trouble adjusting. For once, he did not play football for a long time due to the conflict and even when he got on the field with his teammates, he could not socialise.

Ultimately, the young Messi started getting homesick, but Barcelona made sure he eventually felt at home. 

“When I joined Barcelona, it was a bit weird at first, but from the moment I arrived at the Barça facilities and they gave me clothes to train in, that small gesture made a big difference for me,” said the Barcelona legend during one of the interviews in his new documentary, The Rise of A Legend.

Messi’s punishment was different from ours

While the entire world has witnessed Messi’s magic over the last two decades, his mother, Celia Cuccittini, had to notice his artistry in a very different manner. 

While the footballer’s parents knew Leo had a special talent from the beginning, they had to come up with ways to stop him from playing football all the time. Explaining how she made him do his homework, Celia said,

“Friends always said that he was different, that he had something special. Then as he grew up, it was obvious that he was a genius with the ball. 

“I had to threaten him that if he didn’t do his homework for school he wouldn’t go to training sessions. It was his worst punishment,” she explained.