Messi told … by his first opponent: “Marking him was nothing special, he was like anyone else”

David Garcia had the honor and the burden of being the first direct opponent of the seven-time Ballon d’Or. And he tells of when in 2004 Messi set foot on the pitch with the greats for the first time, explaining that on that occasion he did not shine.

Leo Messi, nothing special. Just to say it, it seems a heresy, especially in light of the seven Golden Balls won by the Flea. But if it is true that the Argentine was a predestined, which was spoken very well since the days of youth, his debut was not so particular. At least, that’s what he claimed a while ago Goal David Garcia, the Espanyol left-back who had the honor and the burden of being Leo’s first direct opponent, when back in 2004 the kid with the # 30 Blaugrana shirt set foot on the pitch for the first time. large.

Seven minutes, not too long to be seen. And David Garcia explained that, at least on that occasion, the Flea did not give the defense of Espanyol any headaches. “We knew who he was, both me and the other Espanyol players. We knew that he was in the Barcelona squad and that he was one to keep an eye on. We had noticed him in some team B matches, he must have shown, in part, that of which he was capable. But marking him that day was normal, he was not what he is now, despite an innate talent. Today he has enormous confidence in his means and has grown a lot. Marking him was nothing special, it was like defending on any other player “. What the Argentine would have been, Espanyol discovered it in spite of himself: in the 35 Barcelona derbies played, the Pulce scored 25 goals and provided 14 assists …

Yet, in his first direct confrontation, Messi convinces but not too much. “I felt that he would be a great player, but not that he would become what he is.” He stuff that looking back today seems almost absurd. Even to David Garcia himself. “The truth is that at the time I didn’t think too much about what Messi would become. I simply thought that, like so many other guys from the Espanyol or Barcelona cantera, he was fulfilling his dream of making his debut in the first team and also at a very young age. But on the pitch you don’t think about what your opponents will become. ” Imagine that one could imagine that Messi … would become Messi!