Ter Stegen opens up on hot-and-cold relationship with Messi – ‘We had our moments’ | OneFootball

In a candid chat with BILD (h/t SPORT) recently, Barcelona captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen shed light on his relationship with former teammate and club legend Lionel Messi.

Ter Stegen and Messi spent seven years together at Barça before the latter had to leave the club on a free transfer in 2021.

While the pair achieved great success on the field, there were times when they did not always see eye-to-eye off of it, Ter Stegen revealed in the interview.

When asked to name his best Messi moment, the German international said: “The good moments or the bad moments? [laughs] We had them all.

“Leo is a special character at this level because he is motivated by a lot of things that we don’t see, I think. We’ve had moments where things didn’t work out between us because he was annoyed with me and I was annoyed with him.”

On being further probed about the situation and how it manifested itself, Ter Stegen replied:

“I think Leo is probably the only player who, if he wants to shoot you in the face, he can. The others would probably shoot anywhere, but he has the ability to hit the target.”

When asked if he ended up facing such a situation with Messi, he added: “Several times (smiles). But not angry at all, in the sense that it didn’t drag on or anything like that.

“Leo is just an impressive character on the pitch, and he plays with a lightness that you will never see again, I’m 100% sure of that.”

Ter Stegen and Messi had their ups and downs. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Continuing, he added: “He has the ability; if he wants to make you look bad, he does it with such ease, and with a pass or a shot that afterwards you’ll say, ‘That’s impossible!’. And I’ve experienced that many times.

“And that’s also why I’m glad I’ve always had him with me in the games and not on the other side.”

Finally, when asked if he and Messi ever made peace, Ter Stegen replied: “We never argued, as if to say we didn’t get along at all. But we had our moments, and that’s fine.

“We were in the locker room together for a long time, and it was definitely interesting to have him in the team and see how he leads. Whether it’s my style or not, it was interesting to see.

“Leo is not a loudmouth; he works a lot with presence and needs to say relatively little, really. And when he says something, everyone listens. And that’s what you really want to achieve as a captain: to be listened to and followed.”