Leo Messi was given a farewell like he was a bench player. This is the club where he stayed for over 20 years, yet the club gave him a Press Conference for a farewell. We are not talking about an average player, we are talking about the Best Player Ever. I would not even consider this as a respectful farewell or send off for any type of player. A total disrespect.
After giving his life to FC Barcelona, he deserved a farewell like no other, if that was too much then at least he would have been given the opportunity to say his goodbye in front of the fans in Camp Nou. Rather he was just given a 30min press conference, so that he could clear the name of the President so no blame comes on him. The trophies were not even kept in the ground rather on a side int he conference room and only some players showed up – not even the full players squad. If this is how you treat your Best Player in History who scored 672 Goals for you – then other players should not have any expectations.
You will get a respectful farewell only if you are Spanish. As you can see the last 3 people who got respectful farewell were : Iniesta, Xavi and Puyol.
And I can assure you that Pique and Busquets will get respectful farewells as well.
Don’t get me wrong, these players totally deserve it. They have defined an era not only in FC Barcelona history but in Football history. But they should also remember that there was another person who was part of that dominant team – Leo Messi and he also deserved a respectful farewell – at least. If it was up to me, his farewell should have been as legendary and memorable as his contribution was to FC Barcelona.
South American Footballers have faced disrespect for some time now. We are going to share only few names though the list is really long, but for now let’s focus on some of the Biggest Names in the football history who were treated badly by FC Barcelona.
Ronaldo “The Phenomenon” R9
For those who didn’t see Ronaldo play, he is the Greatest Striker ‘Number 9’ in the history of Football. At the peak of his career, he was unplayable. Ronaldo was signed by FC Barcelona in 1996 and in 96-97 season Ronaldo scored 47 goals in 49 games. These numbers tell you how good he was – and that too in the first year of him arriving. Ronaldo never wanted to leave FC Barcelona. He admited this in an interview to DAZN Italy.
Ronaldo said : “I’d signed a contract renewal at the end of the season and I went away with the Brazil national team. Five days later, they called me to tell me that I couldn’t continue with the renewal. It was never in my hands. I wanted to stay. If the club didn’t value me as I thought they should, then the decision wasn’t in my hands. I would have liked to have stayed, but it wasn’t up to me.”
Ronaldo had an amazing season in FC Barcelona and then he was kicked out and sold to Inter for £19.5 million ($27m). He would have defined an era if he would have stayed at FC Barcelona. He later joined the rivals Real Madrid – and you cannot blame him for doing that – since FC Barcelona disrespected him. He went on to define an era, but at Real Madrid not at FC Barcelona.
Ronaldinho
No introduction is required for this juggernaut of a player. He along with Ronaldo established the Brazillian dominance in the footballing world during that era. Ronaldinho was welcomed to FC Barcelona and straight away won hearts of the fans. He was loved by one and all – even Real Madrid fans gave him a standing ovation. This was the brilliance of Ronaldinho.
Ronaldinho won everything at Barcelona. He was the driving force in taking the club to the Champions League victory. He basically had the world at his feet during that era. But again he was pushed out of the club from the back doors and sold to AC Milan. A legend like him who brought so many titles to the club yet did not get a respectful farewell.
Rivaldo | Diego Maradona | Dani Alves | Neymar Jr.
Everyone remembers the hat trick Rivaldo scored against Valencia FC to secure the Champions League spot for FC Barcelona in the coming season (that bicycle kick was just woohhh!!!!). Rivaldo was shown the exit door the very next season because the newly appointed coach Louis van Gaal didn’t want him at the club. No matter what you have done for the club, the treatment they give you is beyond belief – another back door exit.
Maradona is considered by many as the Greatest Player. This World Cup winning Argentine was at FC Barcelona and despite his injuries and sickness he won the King’s Cup for the club. Yet as usual he was sold and given a back door exit from the club.
Dani Alves formed the deadliest partnership with Leo Messi and tortured opponents. He was one of the main players in the dominant FC Barcelona team of that era. He won so many trophies and was also part of the team that last won the Champions League in 2015. He was shown the back door exit without any proper farewell.
Neymar Jr is another amazing player who got no farewell. Many can argue that he left Barcelona and was not kicked out – I totally agree but he did enough to get a respectful farewell which he didn’t.
Luis Suarez
3rd Highest Goal Scorer for FC Barcelona. Luis Suarez has scored 198 goals for FC Barcelona. Won the Champions League and was the won the Pichichi and European Golden Shoe in that year. You have to realize how good he was because he won these awards in the same league in which Cristiano and Messi were playing. He beat them to the Pichichi Award which was just unimaginable.
He formed a deadly duo with Leo Messi and conquered La Liga and Copa multiple times. But as he was enjoying the football and fans were enjoying his playing, the club suddenly sells him to the immediate rival Athletico Madrid and as usual shows the player the back door exit.
A player of his status and record number deserved so much more. But at least the club could have given him the respect and a farewell he deserved. He was kicked out of the club as if he was irrelevant and did nothing for the club.
Luis Suarez then went on to win the La Liga with Athletico Madrid in the same season he was transferred and showed his former club what he could do! That was a big slap in the face of the FC Barcelona management.
LEO MESSI
The G.O.A.T was not treated differently than the above mentioned Legends of FC Barcelona. No matter how much he has done for the club, but he was treated similarly. He was given a 30 min press conference and a back door exit. Not even allowed to step on the field. The trophies were kept in one corner of the Press Room for a photo and not even full staff was there for his ‘farewell’. When FC Barcelona has no respect for the Best Player Ever then how can we expect that for others. FC Barcelona continued their disrespectful behavior which they have for South American Footballers and even though everyone thought that things will be different for the Best Player but kudos to FC Barcelona for treating Messi like they treated the other Legends from South America.
