This is a special request from my fans during this quarantine edition. I wrote about the biography of Cristiano Ronaldo AKA CR7 or Mr Champions League.
A rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has made fans all over the world to have a debate who is the Greatest Of All Time or G. O. A. T.
Today I will be telling you about the story of this little man and was deemed to be the next Diego Maradona.
He has been referred as King Lionel Messi or Messiah or the King of Dribbling.
Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini or Lionel Messi was born on 24th June 1987 in Rosario in Argentina the third of four children of Jorge Messi and Celia Cuccittini.
At the age of four he joined local club Grandoli, where he was coached by his father, though his earliest influence as a player came from his maternal grandmother, Celia, who accompanied him to training and matches.
But in 1998, Lionel Messi’s grandmother died after his eleventh birthday and this affected him dearly and up to date when Messi scores a goal, he always looks up and points to the sky in dedication to his grandmother.
A lifelong supporter of Newell’s Old Boys, Messi joined the Rosario club when he was six years old. During the six years he played for Newell’s, he scored almost 500 goals as a member of “The Machine of ’87”, the near-unbeatable youth side named for the year of their birth, and regularly entertained crowds by performing ball tricks during half-time of the first team’s home games. However, his future as a professional player was threatened when, at age 10, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. As his father’s health insurance covered only two years of growth hormone treatment, which cost at least $1,000 per month, Newell’s agreed to contribute, but later reneged on their promise. He was scouted by Buenos Aires club River Plate, whose playmaker, Pablo Aimar, he idolised, but they were also unable to pay for his treatment due to the country’s economic collapse.His goalscoring idol growing up was Ronaldo, with Messi calling him “the best forward I’ve ever seen”.
As the Messi family had relatives in Catalonia, they sought to arrange a trial with Barcelonain September 2000. First team director Charly Rexach immediately wanted to sign him, but the board of directors hesitated; at the time it was highly unusual for European clubs to sign foreign players of such a young age. On 14 December, an ultimatum was issued for Barcelona to prove their commitment, and Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered a contract on a paper napkin.In February 2001, the family relocated to Barcelona, where they moved into an apartment near the club’s stadium, Camp Nou. During his first year in Spain, Messi rarely played with the Infantilesdue to a transfer conflict with Newell’s; as a foreigner, he could only be fielded in friendlies and the Catalan league. Without football, he struggled to integrate into the team; already reserved by nature, he was so quiet that his teammates initially believed he was mute. At home, he suffered from homesickness after his mother moved back to Rosario with his brothers and little sister, María Sol, while he stayed in Barcelona with his father.
During the 2003–04 season, his fourth with Barcelona, Messi rapidly progressed through the club’s ranks, debuting for a record five teams in a single campaign. After being named player of the tournament in four international pre-season competitions with the Juveniles B, he played only one official match with the team before being promoted to the Juveniles A, where he scored 18 goals in 11 league games. Messi was then one of several youth players called up to strengthen a depleted first team during the international break. French winger Ludovic Giuly explained how a teenage Leo caught the eye in a training session with Frank Rijkaard‘s first team: “He destroyed us all… They were kicking him all over the place to avoid being ridiculed by this kid, he just got up and kept on playing. He would dribble past four players and score a goal. Even the team’s starting centre-backs were nervous. He was an alien.
To gain further match experience, Messi joined Barcelona C in addition to the JuvenilesA, playing his first game for the third team on 29 November. He helped save them from the relegation zone of the Tercera División, scoring five goals in ten games, including a hat-trick in eight minutes during a Copa del Rey match while man-marked by Sevilla‘s Sergio Ramos.His progress was reflected in his first professional contract, signed on 4 February 2004, which lasted until 2012 and contained an initial buyout clause of €30 million. A month later, on 6 March, he made his debut for Barcelona B in the Segunda División B, and his buyout clause automatically increased to €80 million.He played five games with the B team that season but did not score. Physically he was weaker than his opponents, who were often much older and taller, and in training he worked on increasing his muscle mass and overall strength in order to be able to shake off defenders. Towards the end of the season, he returned to both youth teams, helping the Juveniles B win the league. He finished the campaign having scored for four of his five teams with a total of 36 goals in all official competitions.
During the 2004–05 season, Messi was a guaranteed starter for the B team, playing 17 games throughout the campaign and scoring on six occasions. Since his debut the previous November, he had not been called up to the first team again, but in October 2004, the senior players asked manager Frank Rijkaard to promote him.Since Ronaldinho already played on the left wing, Rijkaard moved Messi from his usual position onto the right flank (though initially against the player’s wishes), allowing him to cut into the centre of the pitch and shoot with his dominant left foot.Messi made his league debut during the next match on 16 October, against Espanyol, coming on in the 82nd minute. At 17 years, three months, and 22 days old, he was at the time the youngest player to represent Barcelona in an official competition. As a substitute player, he played 77 minutes in nine matches for the first team that season, including his debut in the UEFA Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk. He scored his first senior goal on 1 May 2005, against Albacete, from an assist by Ronaldinho, becoming – at that time – the youngest-ever scorer for the club. Barcelona, in their second season under Rijkaard, won the league for the first time in six years.
After two unsuccessful seasons, Barcelona were in need of an overhaul, leading to the departure of Rijkaard and Ronaldinho. Upon the latter’s departure, Messi was given the number 10 shirt. He signed a new contract in July 2008 on an annual salary of €7.8 million, becoming the club’s highest-paid player.Ahead of the new season, a major concern remained his frequent muscular injuries, which had left him side-lined for a total of eight months between 2006 and 2008. To combat the problem, the club implemented new training, nutrition, and lifestyle regimens, and assigned him a personal physiotherapist, who would travel with him during call-ups for the Argentina national team. As a result, Messi remained virtually injury-free during the next four years, allowing him to reach his full potential.Despite his injuries early in the year, his performances in 2008 saw him again voted runner-up for the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award, both times behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
During his first season under Barcelona’s new manager, former captain Pep Guardiola, Messi played mainly on the right wing, like he had under Rijkaard, though this time as a false winger with the freedom to cut inside and roam the centre. During the Clásico on 2 May 2009, however, he played for the first time as a false nine, positioned as a centre-forward but dropping deep into midfield to link up with Xavi and Andrés Iniesta. He assisted his side’s first goal and scored twice to end the match in an emphatic 6–2 victory, the team’s greatest-ever score at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.Returning to the wing, he played his first final since breaking into the first team on 13 May, scoring once and assisting a second goal as Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 4–1 to win the Copa del Rey. With 23 league goals from Messi that season, Barcelona became La Liga champions three days later and achieved its fifth double.
As the season’s Champions League top scorerwith nine goals, the youngest in the tournament’s history, Messi scored two goals and assisted two more to ensure a 4–0 quarter-final victory over Bayern Munich.He returned as a false nine during the final on 27 May in Rome against Manchester United. Barcelona were crowned champions of Europe by winning the match 2–0, the second goal coming from a Messi header over goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. Barcelona thus achieved the first treble in the history of Spanish football.This success was reflected in a new contract, signed on 18 September, which committed Messi to the club through 2016 with a new buyout clause of €250 million, while his salary increased to €12 million. His team’s prosperity continued into the second half of 2009, as Barcelona became the first club to achieve the sextuple, winning six top-tier trophies in a single year.After victories in the Supercopa de España and UEFA Super Cup in August, Barcelona won the FIFA Club World Cupagainst Estudiantes de La Plata on 19 December, with Messi scoring the winning 2–1 goal with his chest.At 22 years old, Messi won the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award, both times by the greatest voting margin in each trophy’s history.Messi has won a record six Ballon d’Or awards,[note 2] and a record six European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles and six Copas del Rey. A prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (438), a La Liga and European league season (50), most hat-tricks in La Liga(36) and the UEFA Champions League (8), and most assists in La Liga (181) and the Copa América (12). He has scored over 700 senior career goals for club and country.
Messi secured Barcelona’s first trophy of the 2010–11 campaign, the Supercopa de España, by scoring a hat-trick in his side’s second-leg 4–0 victory over Sevilla, after a first-leg defeat.Assuming a playmaking role, he was again instrumental in a Clásico on 29 November 2010, the first with José Mourinho in charge of Real Madrid, as Barcelona defeated their rivals 5–0.Messi helped the team achieve 16 consecutive league victories, a record in Spanish football, concluding with another hat-trick against Atlético Madrid on 5 February 2011.His club performances in 2010 earned him the inaugural FIFA Ballon d’Or, an amalgamation of the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award, though his win was met with some criticism due to his lack of success with Argentina at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.Under the award’s old format, he would have placed just outside the top three, owing his win to the votes from the international coaches and captains.
Towards the end of the season, Barcelona played four Clásicos in the span of 18 days. A league match on 16 April ended in a draw after a penalty from Messi. After Barcelona lost the Copa del Rey final four days later, Messi scored both goals in his side’s 2–0 win in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals in Madrid, the second of which – a slaloming dribble past three Real players – was acclaimed as one of the best ever in the competition.[105] Although he did not score, he was again important in the second-leg draw that sent Barcelona through to the Champions League final,[106][107] where they faced Manchester United in a repeat of the final two years earlier. As the competition’s top scorer for the third consecutive year, with 12 goals, Messi gave a man-of-the-match performance at Wembley on 28 May, scoring the match-winning goal of Barça’s 3–1 victory.[108][109]Barcelona won a third consecutive La Liga title. In addition to his 31 goals, Messi was also the league’s top assist provider with 18.He finished the season with 53 goals and 24 assists in all competitions, becoming Barcelona’s all-time single-season top scorer and the first player in Spanish football to reach the 50-goal benchmark.
Under new manager and former captain Luis Enrique, Messi experienced a largely injury-free start to the 2014–15 season, allowing him to break three more longstanding records towards the end of the year. A hat-trick scored against Sevilla on 22 November made him the all-time top scorer in La Liga, as he surpassed the 59-year record of 251 league goals held by Telmo Zarra.[165] A third hat-trick, scored against city rivals Espanyol on 7 December, allowed him to surpass César Rodríguez as the all-time top scorer in the Derbi barceloní with 12 goals. Messi again placed second in the FIFA Ballon d’Or behind Cristiano Ronaldo, largely owing to his second-place achievement with Argentina at the World Cup.
In the Champions League, Messi scored twice and assisted on another in their 3–0 semi-final victory over Bayern Munich, now under the stewardship of Guardiola. His second goal, which came only three minutes after his first, saw him chip the ball over goalkeeper Manuel Neuer after his dribble past Jérôme Boateng had made the defender drop to the ground; it went viral, becoming the year’s most tweeted about sporting moment, and was named the best goal of the season by UEFA.Despite a second-leg loss, Barcelona progressed to the final on 6 June in Berlin, where they defeated Juventus 3–1 to win their second treble, becoming the first team in history to do so.Although Messi did not score, he participated in each of his side’s goals, particularly the second as he forced a parried save from goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon from which Suárez scored the match-winning goal on the rebound.In addition to being the top assist provider with six assists, Messi finished the competition as the joint top scorer with ten goals, which earned him the distinction of being the first player ever to achieve the top scoring mark in five Champions League seasons. For his efforts during the season, he received the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for a second time.
On 11 January 2016, Messi won the FIFA Ballon d’Or for a record fifth time in his career.On 3 February, he scored a hat-trick in Barcelona’s 7–0 win against Valencia in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final at the Camp Nou.In a 6–1 home win against Celta de Vigo in the league, Messi assisted Suárez from a penalty kick. Some saw it as “a touch of genius”, while others criticised it as being disrespectful to the opponent. The Celta players never complained and their coach defended the penalty, stating, “Barca’s forwards are very respectful.” The penalty routine has been compared to that of Barça icon Johan Cruyff in 1982, who was battling lung cancer, leading many fans to indicate that the penalty was a tribute to him. Cruyff himself was “very happy” with the play, insisting “it was legal and entertaining”.
Messi opened the 2016–17 season by lifting the 2016 Supercopa de España as Barcelona’s captain in the absence of the injured Andrés Iniesta;he set-up Munir‘s goal in a 2–0 away win over Sevilla in the first leg on 14 August,and subsequently scored and assisted in a 3–0 win in the return leg on 17 August.Three days later, he scored two goals and provided an assist to lead Barcelona to a 6–2 victory against Real Betis in the opening game of the 2016–17 La Ligaseason. On 13 September 2016, Messi scored his first hat-trick of the season in the opening game of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League campaign against Celticin a 7–0 victory; this was also Messi’s sixth hat-trick in the Champions League, the most by any player. A week later, Messi sustained a groin injury in a 1–1 draw against Atlético Madrid and was ruled out with injury for three weeks.He marked his return with a goal, scoring three minutes after coming off the bench in a 4–0 home win over Deportivo de La Coruña, on 16 October. Three days after this, he netted his thirty-seventh club hat-trick as Barcelona defeated Manchester City4–0.On 1 November, Messi scored his 54th Champions League group stage goal in Barcelona’s 3–1 away loss to Manchester City, surpassing the previous record of 53 goals held by Raúl.
On 4 February 2017, Messi scored his 27th free-kick for Barcelona in a 3–0 home win over Athletic Bilbao in the league, overtaking Koeman as the club’s all-time top-scorer from free-kicks.
On 23 April, Messi scored twice in a 3–2 away win over Real Madrid. His game-winning goal in stoppage time was his 500th for Barcelona. His memorable celebration saw him taking off his Barcelona shirt and holding it up to incensed Real Madrid fans – with his name and number facing the crowd.
Even commentators went wild when he scored the winning goal, like Rob Palmer said, “Lionel Messi does it again he’s super human, and then the chapter of this little man’s career.”Ray Hudson also said,”You can put a tarantula spider in Messi’s short and he will still be cool.”
Partido de Liga Santander entre Real Madrid y Barcelona. 
Messi opened the 2017–18 season by converting a penalty in Barcelona’s 1–3 first leg home defeat to Real Madrid in Supercopa de España.[221] Thereby, Messi also extended his El Clásico goalscoring record with the goal being his 24th official and 25th overall. On 9 September, Messi scored his first hat-trickof the 2017–18 league campaign, against Espanyol in derbi barceloní, thus helping to secure a 5–0 home victory for Blaugrana over local rivals. Messi netted twice against Gianluigi Buffon, on 12 September, as Barçadefeated the last season’s Italian champions Juventus 3–0 at home in the UEFA Champions League. On 19 September, Messi found the net four times in a 6–1 trashing of Eibar at the Camp Nou in La Liga.Three weeks later, on 1 October, Messi surpassed his former teammate Carles Puyol to become the third highest appearance maker in the club’s history, as he helped Barçadefeat Las Palmas 3–0 by assisting Sergio Busquets‘ opener and later adding two himself in his 594th official game for the club; the league game was played behind closed doors at the Camp Nou due to violence in Catalonia relating to an ongoing independence referendum.
On 18 October, in his 122nd European club appearance, Messi scored his 97th UEFA Champions League goal, and his 100th in all UEFA club competitions, in a 3–1 home victory over Olympiakos.Messi became only the second player after Cristiano Ronaldo to reach this century milestone, but accomplished it in 21 fewer appearances than the Portuguese counterpart. On 4 November, he made his 600th appearance for Barcelona in a 2–1 home win over Sevilla in La Liga.Following the reception of his fourth Golden Boot, Messi signed a new deal with Barcelona on 25 November, keeping him with the club through the 2020–21 season. His buyout clause was set at €700 million.On 7 January 2018, Messi made his 400th La Liga appearance with Barcelona in a 3–0 home win over Levante, marking the occasion with his 144th league assist and 365th league goal for the club, the latter of which saw him equal Gerd Müller’s record for the most league goals scored for the same club in one of Europe’s top five divisions.A week later, he broke the record, scoring his 366th La Liga goal from a free kick in a 4–2 away win against Real Sociedad.
With the departure of former captain Andrés Iniesta in May 2018, Messi was named the team’s new captain for the following season. On 12 August 2018, he lifted his first title as Barcelona’s captain, the Supercopa de España, following a 2–1 victory over Sevilla. On 19 August, Messi scored twice in helping Barcelona defeat Alavés 3–0 in their first La Liga match of the season, with his first goal, a free kick that he rolled under the jumping Alavés wall, making history in being Barcelona’s 6000th goal in La Liga.On 18 September, Messi scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 home win over PSV Eindhoven in Barcelona’s opening Champions Leaguegroup stage match of the season, setting a new record for most hat-tricks in the competition, with eight.On 20 October, Messi scored and assisted in a 4–2 home win over Sevilla, but was later forced off in the 26th minute after falling awkwardly and injuring his right arm; tests later confirmed that he had fractured his radial bone, ruling him out for approximately three weeks. On 8 December, Messi scored two free kicks – his ninth and tenth goals from set pieces during the calendar year – in a 4–0 away win over Catalan Derby rivals Espanyol in La Liga; this was the first time ever that he had managed such a feat in the league. His first goal was also his 10th league goal of the season, making him the first player ever to reach double figures in La Liga for 13 consecutive seasons.
On 13 January 2019, Messi scored his 400th La Liga goal in his 435th league appearance in a 3–0 home win over Eibar, becoming the first player ever to manage this tally in just one of Europe’s top five leagues.On 2 February, Messi scored twice in a 2–2 draw against Valencia, with his first goal coming from the penalty spot, his 50th La Liga penalty goal; as such, he became only the third player in La Liga history after Cristiano Ronaldo and Hugo Sánchez to score 50 penalties in the competition.Later that month, the club admitted they had begun preparations for Messi’s future retirement.On 23 February, Messi scored the 50th hat-trick of his career and also provided an assist for Suárez, as he helped Barcelona come from behind to achieve a 4–2 away victory over Sevilla in La Liga; the goal was also his 650th career goal for club and country at senior level.On 16 April, Messi scored twice in a 3–0 home victory over Manchester United in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals to give Barcelona a 4–0 aggregate win, which saw Barcelona progress to the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since 2015; these were also his first goals in the Champions League quarter-finals since 2013.
On 1 May, Messi scored twice in a 3–0 home win over Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals; his second goal of the match, a 35-yard free kick, was the 600th senior club goal of his career, all of which had been scored with Barcelona.
On 2 September, Messi was shortlisted as one of the three finalists for both the 2019 FIFA Puskás Award and the 2019 Best FIFA Men’s Player Award, with Messi winning the latter on 23 September.
Messi made his first appearance of the season on 17 September, and on 6 October he scored his first goal of the season with a free kick in a 4–0 home win over Sevilla; this was his 420th goal in La Liga, which saw him break Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 419 goals scored in Europe’s top five leagues.On 23 October, Messi scored his first Champions League goal of the season in a 2–1 away win over Slavia Prague, becoming the first player to score in 15 consecutive Champions League seasons (excluding qualifying rounds). He also equalled Raúl and Cristiano Ronaldo’s shared record of the most sides scored against in the competition (33). On 29 October, Messi scored and assisted twice in a 5–1 home win over Real Valladolid in La Liga; his first goal – a set piece from 35 yards – was the 50th free-kick of his career. His goals (608) also saw him overtake Cristiano Ronaldo’s senior goal tally (606) at club level.On 9 November, Messi scored three goals (including two free kicks) in a 4–1 home win against Celta Vigo. This was his 34th hat-trick in La Liga, equalling Cristiano Ronaldo’s Spanish top-flight record. On 27 November, in what was his 700th appearance for Barcelona, Messi scored one goal and assisted two more in a 3–1 home win over Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League. Borussia Dortmund was the 34th team he had scored against in the competition, breaking the previous record of 33 held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Raúl.On 2 December, Messi was awarded a record-breaking sixth Ballon d’Or.[272] On 8 December, Messi scored his record-breaking 35th hat-trick in La Liga with three goals in Barcelona’s 5–2 home win over Mallorca.[273] On 22 February 2020, Messi scored four goals in a 5–0 home win over Eibar in La Liga.
Since 2008, Messi has been in a relationship with Antonella Roccuzzo, a fellow native of Rosario. He has known Roccuzzo since he was five years old, as she is the cousin of his best friend since childhood, Lucas Scaglia, who is also a football player. After keeping their relationship private for a year, Messi first confirmed their romance in an interview in January 2009, before going public a month later during a carnival in Sitges after the Barcelona–Espanyol derby.
Messi and Roccuzzo have three sons: Thiago (born 2012), Mateo (born 2015) and Ciro (born 2018). To celebrate his partner’s first pregnancy, Messi placed the ball under his shirt after scoring in Argentina’s 4–0 win against Ecuador on 2 June 2012, before confirming the pregnancy in an interview two weeks later.Thiago was born in Barcelona on 2 November 2012, with Messi attending the birth after being given permission by Barcelona to miss training. He announced his son’s arrival on his Facebook page, writing, “Today I am the happiest man in the world, my son was born and thanks to God for this gift!”Thiago’s name and handprints are tattooed on his left calf.In April 2015, Messi confirmed on Facebook that they were expecting another child.[He missed training ahead of a match against Atlético Madrid to attend the birth of his second son, Mateo, on 11 September 2015 in Barcelona. On 30 June 2017, he married Roccuzzo at a luxury hotel named Hotel City Center in Rosario with about 260 guests attending his wedding. On 15 October 2017, his wife announced they were expecting their third child in an Instagram post, with the words “Family of 5”.On 10 March 2018, Messi skipped the match against Málaga after Ciro was born.
Messi has won a record six Ballon d’Or awards, and a record six European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles and six Copas del Rey. A prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (438), a La Liga and European league season (50), most hat-tricks in La Liga(36) and the UEFA Champions League (8), and most assists in La Liga (181) and the Copa América (12). He has scored over 700 senior career goals for club and country.
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