The shocking story that made Lionel Messi cry in his conflict with Barcelona

By far, Lionel Messi is the man to follow in worldwide football in 2021. The Argentinian forward is on the way to become a free agent by the end of June, and his conflict with Barcelona in the last months put him on the list to be a potential new asset to other big clubs in the world.

Now, 33-year-old Messi is looking behind to his life and his large spell in Barcelona (moved from his hometown Rosario to Catalunya in his childhood). Throughout his period in the club he met some strong people, excellent coaches and some impressive stars that were his team-mates. But there’s another special person who led him to tears.

After Pep Guardiola’s departure in 2012, Tito Vilanova replaced him on the bench. However, he had to give up his place due to having had cancer detected in his body. Messi’s countryman Gerardo Martino replaced him for 2013-2014 season. The terminal disease killed Vilanova, aged 45, on April 25th 2014.

Messi had half of the best year in his career alongside Vilanova. The Argentine scored no less than 91 goals during 2012, including the ones for the national team. Recently, a documentary on Vilanova’s life was released. Its title is “100x100 Tito”. “I had lots of conversations, but always about football and our games”, said Messi in it.

In tears

“But the most special chat I had with him was the last one, it was like a farewell”, revealed Messi, as he broke into tears. Jordi Roura, Vilanova’s assistant, confessed to Radio Kanal Barcelona: “In those days Lionel was thinking about leaving the club. That chat was six days before Tito died. I know Lionel changed his mind then, and thankfully, he stayed”, he concluded.