It has been a challenging eight months for Lionel Messi. Despite savouring sweet success — Argentina’s Copa America triumph, after which he said, “I needed to remove from myself the thorn of achieving something with the national team”, and a record-extending seventh Ballon d’Or — the 34-year-old has dealt with the most tumultuous period of his professional career: the end of a 20-year relationship with Barcelona, his boyhood club.
“This is all like a bucket of cold water has been poured over me and we are still coming to terms with it,” Messi said at his teary Barcelona exit last year even as hundreds of fans, many wearing his No. 10 jersey, massed outside Camp Nou to bid farewell. “I tried to behave with humility and respect and I hope that is what remains of me when I leave the club.”
