Messi did not play for Barca when he won the 8th Ballon d’Or but still gave it back to the club
Messi won his eighth Golden Ball at the age of 36, on October 30, 2023, largely thanks to winning the 2022 World Cup with Argentina. Previously, he won seven awards in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021. “All eight balls are important for different reasons, but the collective title is the most special,” said the player. Argentine army said when receiving the award.
During his career, Messi has won many personal awards, but unlike most players, he does not keep those awards in his home or in a personal display.
All seven Ballon d’Ors he won during his years with Barca, Messi brought the awards to the club’s museum. Therefore, fans, young players or rookies who come to the Barca museum will be overwhelmed when standing in front of the area displaying Messi’s awards.
The first six Golden Balls Messi won as a Barca player. He won the seventh Golden Ball when he moved to PSG, but his main achievements were still his contributions to the Camp Nou stadium. Therefore, this superstar sent it back to the Spanish club.
Last fall, the press rumored that Messi would have to choose a new place to house his 8th Ballon d’Or winner, because he won this award while playing for Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami and Argentina. But recently Messi surprised everyone: his 8th Ballon d’Or was transferred to Barcelona’s museum.
On the social network Reddit, the FireflyCaptain account commented: “Messi still won the title for Barca even though he left the team for three years. Truly legendary”, and received more than 1,000 Likes. And account mrawya_rashaka wrote: “So dead. Every time I see news like this, my heart breaks because I remember how Messi had to leave Barca.”
Messi and Barcelona are still in love with each other even though they broke up painfully, Barca is still like a second home to Messi. Meanwhile, PSG is not only a short-term stop for Leo, PSG fans today no longer have sympathy for him. Not to mention it is a French team, and it would be very strange if Messi kept his award on the territory of the national team that he and Argentina defeated to win the World Cup.
Messi said goodbye to Barca in the summer of 2021 when his contract expired and the team did not renew it, due to financial reasons. This decision came suddenly, ending his 21 years with the team. During the team farewell press conference, Messi cried for a long time. Up to now, Barca has not been able to arrange a tribute match for him, and Messi has not had a chance to say goodbye to the Camp Nou audience.
