“He is going to compete because nobody demands more than him and he is a winner”
“I see Barça better than Madrid. By team, they must win the League”
Hristo Stoichkov, a legend of Barcelona, has lived in Miami for ten years. He works as a sports commentator. Nobody better than him to analyze the arrival of Leo Messi at Inter Miami. Also to talk about his beloved Barça.
Hristo Stoichkov living and working in Miami and now Messi too. What do you think?
As a viewer I am happy with this decision. I think he’s done what’s best for him and his family. Miami is a great city and it is not only tourism, the beach and the keys. Here they will live well and Leo will be able to continue playing at a good level because he is a professional. I did it, I left Barça, I spent a year in Japan and then three in Chicago and one in Washington and it was a success.
In other words, he sees Messi continuing at a high level.
He is going to compete and play at a high level because MLS is a competitive league. Whoever says no is because they haven’t seen games. It’s growing thanks to Don Garber, who thinks ahead. He has a great relationship with Infantino and Ceferin. He wants to bring the Champions League final here, he is going to play the Copa América, the Club World Cup and the national team. He is not afraid of Arabia, which is a globe like China was. There are more than 250 players here who play in good leagues. They want to go very far in the 2026 World Cup.
Are they going to demand Messi win?
Nobody demands Messi. He already demands himself just because he is a winner. No one doubts that he is going to compete. He will want to be good in the Copa América next year. Argentina is champion and the final is in Miami. They also have Martino as their coach who has already won the league with Atlanta. I’m sure they’ll end up making a good team and winning.
What is Messi going to give to the MLS?
It will be released in Europe. There are teams that would be up in the League. The fields will be full. There are no more tickets until the end of the season in many of the stadiums where Inter will play. They want to see the world champion. And Busquets and Alba.
Wouldn’t you have liked him to return to Barça?
So that? She already left once crying. She said it and I applaud her. She did not want the salary of her colleagues to be lowered so that he could sign. He is human and a great person. That’s why everyone loves him.
What do you think about Barcelona?
He is obliged to win the League. He is the champion and must improve in Europe. I am glad that they are backing youngsters like Pedri, Gavi, Araujo, Balde, Ansu… This year it will be better. There are players with more experience and good signings have been made.
Like Gundogan.
I like it a lot. She has talent and character. With him and De Jong, Pedri and Gavi, Barça have a great midfield. More Dembélé, Raphinha, Ansu, Lewandowski, Araujo, Christensen, Koundé, Ter Stegen, the best goalkeeper in the world. It’s a great team. You have to do important things.
How do you see Xavi?
Fantastic. It was not easy to win the League and he has achieved it. He is a legend of Barça, who has made history with our clubs. His experience was doubted and he has already won the League. I never doubted. He is a boy from the house who knows everything, with clear ideas, which he learned from Pep, which he learned from Johan. The best thing about Barça is preserving that DNA.
And how do you see the club with so many financial problems?
Laporta is trying to turn it around, but I have already told him more than once to get the idea of the Super League out of his head. It will never be done. He is fixing the club and solving the economic issue and the best way to achieve this is to sit down with Tebas and Ceferin and talk, negotiate and forget about the Super League. There are only two clubs left. You have to approach the institutions and clubs. Experience you already have. He lived a golden age with Pep, with Txiki, with Johan and with Leo, the best player in the world.
Now he was talking about Pep Guardiola, recent European champion with Manchester City.
You don’t know how happy I was. The hug that I gave myself with Pep and with Txiki. We were colleagues and we are friends. Together we won the first European Cup for Barça. There were many people who said that they would not win it again, that they could only do it with Barça. Now, you must eat your words. He has built a great team and added a beast like Haaland to it.
Talk about Haaland. What about Mbappé and Real Madrid?
I don’t know what will happen to him. I only know that he is very good and that he is going to mark football in the coming years along with Haaland, I think he is going to go to England. At the moment, I see Madrid below Barça, but with great young players like Vinicius, Camavinga, Bellingham…