Messi was so fast I didn’t even have time to kick him, Belletti said of former teammate

In an exclusive interview with GOAL, former Barcelona full-back Juliano Belletti revealed that Messi literally tortured him during their first training session together.

Rumours about the young talent from La Masia

Barcelona hero Juliano Belletti revealed in his interview that Lionel Messi was so good as a teenager that he couldn’t even kick the Argentine striker. In 2004, Belletti was at the peak of his powers and after a successful stint at Villarreal, he was signed by then giants Barcelona.

By contrast, Messi was just starting to receive invitations to train with the senior team and Belletti still remembers the first time he shared a training session with the boy who would later win seven Ballon d’Ors.

“When I first trained against Messi, I had never heard of him,” Belletti told GOAL. “Iniesta came and asked me if I knew who Messi was. He warned me to be careful because he was good,” he said of how the spirit of the young Messi was already being carried through the club at the time.

Messi was already torturing his teammates in training as a teenager

Belletti further confirmed in the interview that thoughts of underestimating the young player took hold of him in those moments. Julian was already a first-team player for the star-studded Barcelona and it happened regularly that La Masia players would occasionally turn up at training.

But Messi showed his uniqueness from his first training session in senior football. “On the pitch, he didn’t care who he was running against,” confirmed the young Argentine’s confidence.

After a few training sessions together, he was already feeling the frustration on the pitch. “In the one-on-one battles, at times I considered dealing with him in my own way,” he said with exaggeration. “I tried to at least kick him, but he was already gone even with the ball,” he confirmed his exceptionalism.

The Barcelona era after Messi’s departure

In 2007, Belletti then moved to Chelsea. It probably comes as no surprise that the Brazilian defender still has a very strong bond after many years away from the club. Perhaps because he won the coveted Champions League with the club in 2006, thanks in part to his winning goal in the final match against Arsenal.

The Brazilian full-back has shared the dressing room not only with the most prominent figure in world football of the last decade, Lionel Messi, but also with the experienced midfielder Xavi. The latter, as we informed you last November, has anchored his beloved club again and leads the current Barcelona as its coach.

Belletti fully trusts his former teammate. In his opinion, Xavi can lift a weakened club that had to let go of its biggest star Lionel Messi due to financial and institutional problems.

“We all know how important Messi was for the whole club,” he praised the cannonballer’s contribution to Barcelona. “But the club must look forward with Xavi, president Laporta and the youngsters on the pitch,” he continued. “Xavi has shown the world more than once that he is simply different and will be the same in his role as manager,” he concluded about the Catalan club’s new era.

Belletti’s current plans

Belletti is now working on his first steps towards becoming a head coach in Europe after his time as an assistant at Cruzeiro. In addition to his recent visit to Barcelona as part of a training course, the former flank defender has also met with officials and old friends at Chelsea in recent weeks and months.

“My goal is to return to Europe and work here,” Belletti said of his future plans. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that he is as successful as he was as a player.

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