Lionel Messi Pays Heartfelt Tribute to Andres Iniesta on Retirement: ‘The Ball Will Miss You’

Lionel Messi Pays Heartfelt Tribute to Andres Iniesta on Retirement: Barcelona legend Lionel Messi wrote a lovely message to his old teammate Andres Iniesta who announced his retirement from football. Messi and Iniesta were part of the golden era of Barcelona where the club dominated European football and won everything together at the club level.

They had a telepathic understanding on the pitch and Iniesta would often run through the middle and find Messi in front of goal.

Iniesta who scored the World Cup winning goal for Spain in 2010 decided to retire on October 8 - a number that was synonymous with him throughout his career as he wore the number 8 jersey in club football.

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Eight time Ballon d’Or winner Messi paid tribute to Iniesta with whom he shared many moments on the pitch including multiple Champions League and La Liga titles.

“One of the team-mates with the most magic and of the one's I enjoyed playing together the most. Andres Iniesta, the ball will miss you and so will we! I wish you the best, always. You are a phenomenon," Messi wrote on his Instagram story.

Iniesta left Barcelona in 2018 after 674 appearances for the club after coming out of La Masia academy. Messi and Iniesta played at La Masia and then ruled European football together after getting into the Barcelona senior side.

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There were rumors that Iniesta would join Messi at Inter Miami after the MLS club signed Messi’s former Barcelona teammates Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez; but that didn’t happen.

Meanwhile MLS is already preparing for Messi’s MLS Cup playoff debut even though his Inter Miami CF’s opponent hasn’t been decided yet.

Inter Miami clinched their first Supporters’ Shield on Wednesday with a 3-2 win against the Columbus Crew and will play their first playoff game on Oct 25 at home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The full MLS Cup playoff bracket will be out on Oct 19, last day of the regular season.

After PSG, Messi 37 joined MLS in July 2023. Inter Miami won the League Cup but didn’t make the MLS Cup playoffs. This is Messi’s 46th trophy.

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