“Ronaldinho, the year he won the Ballon d’Or, told me that Messi was better than him; they feel different”

Barcelona experienced a revolution with the arrival of Lionel Messi. At 16 years old, the Argentine already stood out among the most experienced on the team, a sign of what was to come. This is how he remembers it Maxi Lopez, who shared a locker room with him during those early years. In a recent interview, the former Argentine footballer spoke about Messi’s beginnings at Barça and how Ronaldinho, at his peak after winning the Ballon d’Or, He recognized in him a talent superior to his own.

“I already saw that this kid, at 16 years old, could beat the older ones. He had unusual strength and speed,” says Maxi, who experienced first-hand the impact that Messi had on his surroundings. “We talked about it among the elders, we already saw that it would be different,” he adds.

In the midst of that meteoric rise, one detail that remained etched in Maxi’s memory was the admiration that Ronaldinho felt for the young Messi. “Ronnie told me ‘this one is better than me,'” Maxi remembers about the Brazilian, who at that time was living his best moment. In that year, Ronaldinho had won the Ballon d’Or, but he still recognized the brilliance of a young Messi. “Between the different ones, they feel each other,” says Maxi about the connection between both footballers.

Beyond the flashes of the games, Messi was always shy off the field. “I was super young, super shy”explains Maxi, who also highlights the Argentine’s evolution. “Today he is a leader, but in those early days he was another Messi. Although yes, he was always very entertaining, he joined all the barbecues with the elders,” recalls Maxi, a privileged witness of the beginning of Messi’s legend in Barcelona.