Lionel Messi's teammates looked like autograph hunters in bizarre scenes captured after the Copa del Rey final, lining up to ask him for photos alongside the trophy that was the 35th of the superstar striker's remarkable career.
The club captain scored twice in five minutes as Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 victory in the showpiece, easing past Athletic Bilbao after their LaLiga rivals had held out for an hour.
$90 million midfielder Frenkie de Jong was among those looking more like starstruck fans than Messi's peers after Barca tasted glory for the first time since 2019, waiting to pose with the six-time Ballon d'Or winner as he patiently stood by the trophy.
"This is a true measure of Lionel Messi’s status within the game," waxed one viewer, suggesting that the one-club man's teammates are "utterly in awe of him".
This is a true measure of Lionel Messi’s status within the game. His own teammates are utterly in awe of him and I don’t blame them.
"Lenglet is the best in all of it," said another, namechecking the 25-year-old France center-back. "He knows he's too old to do it but really wants to."
A critic said: "I get it, but still seems so f***ing weird. You’d think you’d be such mates that you’d feel stupid lining up for a picture like a fan."
That caused an apologist for Barca's squad to reply: "Can't really compare him to Steve down the Dog and Duck [amateurs].
"They want a picture to commemorate them winning a trophy with possibly the greatest player to grace the game."
Antoine Griezmann made the breakthrough for Barca and De Jong added a second before Messi sealed the emphatic win, tricking his way beyond the opposition defense to score his first in the 68th minute and notching again with a 72nd-minute first-time strike.
The 33-year-old has now won more trophies than any Barcelona player in history, sharing his record of seven Copa del Rey triumphs with teammates Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique.
its pedri puig etc they are all teenagers who idolized him so its huge for them
— CFCchamp(lost 5-2 to west brom) (@FullBackMaestro) April 18, 2021
"Messi is a living museum," said a club rundown of Messi's achievements, pointing to his 10 Liga titles, eight Spanish Super Cup wins, four Champions League trophies and hat-tricks in the Club World Cup and European Super Cup.
“It’s very strange not to be able to celebrate it with people and the family, but that’s the situation we live in right now," reflected the club legend and all-time top scorer, calling his captaincy and his latest trophy "very special".
"We have two sets of fans who are used to experiencing finals like this, but I’m sure they enjoyed watching from their homes.
Ronaldo would push his team mates out the way for a picture by himself ????
Can't really compare him to Steve down the dog and duck. They want a picture to commemorate them winning a trophy with possibly the greatest player to grace the game.
“We knew Athletic always play the same way, 4-4-2 and working on the counter-attack, and that they have very fast players.
"We had the patience to keep the ball and create space. We moved the ball about a lot in the first half and in the second Athletic’s pace dropped off and we could create more chances."
Despite their defeat in El Clasico last weekend, Barca are only a point behind second-placed Real Madrid and three shy of leaders Atletico Madrid with eight matches remaining of their Liga season.
He probably said "it's my f*cking trophy so if you want a picture with it I'll be in it".
“It has been a difficult year so it’s very important to have won the cup and to still be in contention win the league," said Messi, whose uncertain future could depend upon silverware this season.
"It’s been a year of transition with a lot of young players. We found it hard to get going at first. We dropped points through being naive, because of lack of experience, but the team got stronger and got back into the fight.
"We didn’t get a good result the other day [against Madrid] but we are still in there and there are plenty of games still to be played.”
