messi made his debut for barcelona in october 2004.
messi made his debut for barcelona in october 2004.
when did messi make his debut for barcelona?
october 2004
born and raised in central argentina, messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a child. at age 13, he relocated to spain to join barcelona, who agreed to pay for his medical treatment. after a fast progression through barcelona's youth academy, messi made his competitive debut aged 17 in october 2004. despite being injury-prone during his early career, he established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, finishing 2007 as a finalist for both the ballon d'or and fifa world player of the year award, a feat he repeated the following year. his first uninterrupted season was 2008–09, during which he helped barcelona achieve the first treble in spanish football. at 22 years old, messi won the 2009 ballon d'or and the 2009 fifa world player of the year award by record voting margins. three successful seasons followed, with messi winning three consecutive fifa ballons d'or, including an unprecedented fourth. during the 2011–12 season, he set the la liga and european records for most goals scored in a single season, while establishing himself as barcelona's all-time top scorer in official competitions in march 2012. the following two seasons, messi finished twice second for the ballon d'or behind cristiano ronaldo, his perceived career rival. messi regained his best form during the 2014–15 campaign, breaking the all-time goalscoring records in both la liga and the champions league in november 2014, and leading barcelona to a historic second treble.
lionel messi
messi opened the 2015–16 season by scoring twice from free kicks in barcelona's 5–4 victory (after extra time) over sevilla in the uefa super cup. a subsequent 5–1 aggregate defeat against athletic bilbao in the supercopa de españa ended their expressed hopes of a second sextuple, with messi scoring his side's only goal. on 16 september, he became the youngest player to make 100 appearances in the uefa champions league in a 1–1 away draw to roma. on 26 september, messi sustained an injury in barcelona's match against las palmas; tests later confirmed that he suffered a tear in the medial collateral ligament of his left knee, ruling him out for six to eight weeks. he finally returned to the pitch on 21 november, making a substitute appearance in barcelona's 4–0 away win over rivals real madrid in "el clásico". messi capped off the year by winning the 2015 fifa club world cup final on 20 december, collecting his fifth club trophy of 2015 as barcelona went on to defeat river plate 3–0 in yokohama. messi also won the tournament's silver ball, despite missing the semi-final. on 30 december, messi scored on his 500th appearance for barcelona, in a 4–0 home win over real betis.
lionel messi