![]() One of the most successful and imposing dynasties in football came to an end in 2013 when Sir Alex Ferguson brought his 26-year stint as manager of Manchester United to an end.įergie won 38 trophies during his time at Old Trafford. Things seem to have settled somewhat, but the fact of the matter is that some big European clubs are still willing to fork out £40m-50m on a back-up centre-half and think nothing of it. The mind-boggling fee involved also served to warp the transfer market, perhaps irretrievably, as knock-on transfers for the likes of Kylian Mbappe (€180m), Ousmane Dembele (€105m), and Philippe Coutinho (€160m) also took place at hugely inflated prices. Then along came a Gulf state and changed all that and, in 2017, a free-spending PSG were responsible for setting a truly enormous new world transfer record when they paid €222 million to pluck Neymar from Barcelona's midst. At the time, the Parisians' patchy squad boasted the likes of Pauleta, Jerome Rothen and Mario Yepes as the biggest star signings. PSG, meanwhile, washed up in ninth place in Ligue 1 in the season that Messi made his debut for Barca. Skip forward several years and a couple of takeovers, City sealed their ascension to the top table with Sergio Aguero's fabled last-gasp, 94th-minute Premier League title-winning goal against QPR in 2012.Ĭhampions League glory may have eluded them so far, but City have since powered up the pecking order by spending over a billion pounds on coveted coaches and expensive players while cementing their place as one of the biggest corporate entities in world football. New Champions League superpowersĬome the end of Messi's debut 2004-05 season, a Man City team boasting the likes of Paul Bosvelt, Jon Macken and Danny Mills finished eighth in the Premier League, a massive 43 points behind winners Chelsea. While Messi shared a club pitch with many of La Roja's all-conquering side - Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, etc - he was left to watch on in envy as Argentina repeatedly failed to deliver. ![]() On the international scene, the later 2000s and early 2010s were dominated by one nation alone, with Spain's exceptional golden generation winning two consecutive European Championships, and then there was the World Cup sandwiched in between. ![]() On an individual level, Messi has since gone on to distort the very nature of success, having scored 635 goals, registered 279 assists, won 10 La Lia titles, six Copa del Reys, four Champions Leagues and six Ballon d'Ors, among countless other accolades. His first goal of the evening saw him draw level with Cesar Rodriguez (a star in the 1940s and '50s) on 232 goals for the club, before a second and third propelled him into the history books forever more. Messi has broken countless records over the prevailing years but the first big one came in March 2012 when he scored a hat trick against Granada to become Barcelona's all-time top goal scorer at the age of just 24. Some 733 success-laden appearances later, the Argentine superstar is still very much on top, though there have been an awful lot of pivotal events, changes and power shifts since. That 82nd-minute substitution marked a changing of the guard as Messi entered the fray in the blaugrana stripes of Barca for the very first time. Having scored the only goal of the game early on, Deco was hauled off by Barca coach Frank Rijkaard with just a few minutes left and replaced by a 17-year-old academy graduate. Little did we know that on this very day 16 years ago, as Barcelona were slogging to a narrow victory over cross-town rivals Espanyol, we were about to witness a late substitution that would alter the course of football forever. The day the genie was let out of the bottle - or dugout, depending on which metaphor you prefer for Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi made his Barcelona debut 16 years ago today. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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