Messi hours before his first PSG vs Marseille: the little-known story of his debut in a Barza-Real

In Paris they already imagined the movie. They have already recreated every scene, every detail and go over the happy ending in their mind. The location will be the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille, in the south of France. The main actor: Lionel Messi. Context and plot: French classic between the Olympique de Marsella y PSG (1:45 pm). It will be the first of the Argentine outside of Spain, a country that will also experience its first Barcelona vs. Real Madrid of the post-Messi era, and Parisian fans are hoping that the ’30’ will score his first goal in Ligue 1 against his lifelong rival. He already has three goals in the Champions League.

Almost 16 years have passed since Leo played his first classic with the shirt of the Stork. His presence on the field implied goals, assists and, above all, Blaugrana triumphs. . He is followed by his former teammate Xavi Hernández (6), who continues to be proclaimed as the future coach of the Catalan team.

But Messi must now leave behind his epic nights against him Real Madrid and start writing your new story in front of the Marsella, a “feared” club in France. The last French classic against PSG was tainted by the complaint of Neymar, who accused the Spanish Alvaro González of being a racist. The suffering that Marcelo Gallardo went through more than two decades ago is also in the memory.

The now River Plate coach played in Monaco between 1999 and 2003. In his first season, in which he was champion, he had to visit ‘The Olympians’ who was fighting relegation. After a tense first half in which there was a fight between the players, Gallardo was attacked in the tunnel by Christophe Galtier, then technical assistant of the locals. “”, said the Argentine. “Gallardo is a provocateur and got what he deserved”, Bernard Cassoni, DT of Marseille, then pointed out. They had even ordered to remove the security cameras from the tunnel.

Last Saturday, during an ESPN live, a fan of the Marsella took the mike and said: “”. It is the enemy, with that poster they will receive the Rosario who will seek his first goal in French football in the middle of a hostile climate.

The unpublished story of his first classic

Lionel Messi made his official debut with him Barcelona on October 16, 2004 with 17 years, 3 months and 22 days. Although from before he already gave clues of what he would be now: the best of all. On his way to Primera, Espanyol, the rival against which he marked his debut, and Juventus of Italy tried to sign him, but their attempts never progressed. But everything was about to change in September 2005, two months before the Argentine will play his first Barcelona-Real Madrid.

Almost a year after his debut, Inter Milan made an astronomical offer for the Argentine who had just turned 18: 150 million euros. Those were days when Stork He could not enroll him in the Spanish League and the ‘Pulga’ environment looked favorably on his departure to Italy. “”, Laporta said in the book “Messi” by Guillém Balagué.

Laporta used all his diplomatic skills to convince Jorge Messi, Lionel’s father, not to end up in Serie A. “”he said, according to the aforementioned book. The boss played it, he succeeded -Leo achieved everything with Barza-, but the end was not what anyone expected: the ‘Flea’ today is at PSG, far from Barcelona, after suffering the consequences of an economic crisis that plagues the institution.

Massimo Moratti, owner and president of Inter, took advantage of a dinner in Madrid to tell Joan Laporta that he loved Rosario, that he was in love with left-handed players and that he was special. The boss of the Barcelona He replied that they were not going to get rid of the footballer.

The weeks after were tense. While the Messi They were increasingly considering the option of leaving for Italy, the club was looking for all the ways to convince him to stay. Thus, coach Frank Rijkaard decided to include him little by little in the games. . Before, in 2004, he had been on the substitute bench in a Barza-Madrid, but this time he was going to join.

Since then, his rise has been meteoric until he is what he is now: the best of all who seeks, date by date, to continue proving that he is the king. This Sunday he will face his first French classic in search of his first goal in Ligue 1.