Lionel Messi is undoubtedly one of the greatest players in Barcelona’s history. The Argentine icon, who remains the club’s all-time leading scorer, may now be shining in Major League Soccer (MLS) with Inter Miami, but his heart still beats for Barcelona. Despite leaving Europe in 2023, Messi continues to carry the Catalan club in his memories—and in his conversations with his wife, Antonella Roccuzzo, and their children.
Messi’s Family Longs for Barcelona Return
Messi’s exit from Barcelona in 2021 was one of the most emotional moments in football history. His tearful farewell was attributed to the club’s severe financial crisis and the strict La Liga salary cap. Many pointed fingers at La Liga president Javier Tebas and Barcelona president Joan Laporta. Since then, Messi had not set foot in the Camp Nou for nearly four years—until recently, when he made a surprise private visit to the newly renovated stadium.
In a recent interview with Diario Sport, Messi opened up about his deep emotional connection with the city.
“𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆; 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒂 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕. 𝑴𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈—𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕,” 𝑴𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅.
The Messi family’s bond with Barcelona remains strong, not just because of football but because the city represents their second home and the foundation of his legendary career.
A Nostalgic Visit to Camp Nou
Barcelona players recently trained at the new-look Camp Nou for the first time in two years. Though cranes still loomed over the stadium, more than 20,000 fans attended the test session—proof that the excitement surrounding the revamped ground is enormous. Messi’s secret visit rekindled those emotions for the fans and for himself.
Reflecting on the visit, Messi said,
“𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝑪𝒂𝒎𝒑 𝑵𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒐, 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍. 𝑰’𝒎 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒔.”
Messi Reflects on a Bittersweet Goodbye
The Inter Miami star also looked back on his painful departure from Barcelona, describing it as one of the toughest moments of his life.
“𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑴𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒄, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆,” 𝑴𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅.
He further added that while the chapter ended unexpectedly, the love he feels from the Barcelona faithful remains unchanged.
A Legacy That Lives Forever
Messi joined Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy as a teenager and grew up both as a footballer and as a person within the club’s system.
“𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒂. 𝑴𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆,” 𝑴𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅.
Making his senior debut in 2004, Messi went on to play 778 matches for the Catalan giants, scoring an astounding 672 goals and winning 35 trophies—including 4 UEFA Champions League and 10 La Liga titles.
Although he now dazzles in Miami, Messi’s story with Barcelona feels unfinished. Both he and Antonella still dream of returning—not for fame or trophies, but for love, nostalgia, and a fitting farewell to the place where it all began.
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