27/10/2025
José Mourinho 🗣️: "Many don't know that Messi's first game with Barcelona was against me. I saw a 16-year-old kid coming in and I said to myself, 'Who is the player that made La Masia put him in the first team?' I knew that La Masia was a very difficult school to convince, but to burn through the stages of that school and reach the first team at 16 was incredible. I watched his movements and dribbling with the eyes of a coach and I said to myself, 'This player is going to change the history of Barcelona.' But years later, I came to stop him, and this was Messi's fault. No coach or player can stop him, but I challenged myself and tried. After the game, I couldn't sleep at night, but when we entered the game, I saw a player from another world who made defenders suffer, even the chance to bring him down was difficult. If I had known that a 16-year-old boy would create all these problems for me in my career, I would have gone to him and convinced him to join me, and wherever I go, I will take him with me." I would take many titles from him now instead of the tension and nerves he created for me back then, but to be clear, Messi made me develop in a terrible way. This is a fact, just as he developed the coaches who trained him, even though he didn't need a coach in the first place.
