Barcelona captain Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has confirmed rumors that his relationship with the legendary attacker Lionel Messi was not always at his best. The Argentinian was the captain for the German, and the couple spent eight years together in the club, but the latter confirmed that the relationship between the two was not always at its best.
Speaking at Phrasenmaeher, Ter Stegen explained that when he was rubbed in the wrong way, Messi was able to appear on the training field in a way that few could.
“He is probably the only player who can put a ball on your face if he wants to. He has that power. Others would shoot elsewhere; he could hit the target. He did it several times. Where does that anger come from? You have to ask him (…). If he wants to make you look bad,” he said Bild's podcast, as cited by Diario.
The couple would sometimes collide together during their last years in the run -up to Messi's exit in 2022, with Ter Stegen feeling that the team might not work hard enough on the other side of the field. The current captain of Barcelona confirms more or less.
“Messi gets motivation from many things that we don't do. We have had times when things were not successful between us because he was irritated to me and I was irritated by him.”
“We never argued, it is not to say that we could not get along with each other at all. But we had our moments, and that is fine. We were together in the dressing room for a long time, and it was absolutely interesting to have him in the team and see how he leads or it is my style, it was interesting to look. Reaching as a captain: being listened and followed.”
It is not unusual for personalities to collide in the dressing room, especially after such a long time, although these divorces can cause problems for team spirit and on the field. Messi's reign in Barcelona often saw the club follow its wishes, although he has always denied a leading role in the decision -making of the club.