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Former Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has stated that Lionel Messi was not the best at telling others what to do when he was club captain as he was 'unique and different.' Messi was Barca's captain between 2018 to 2021, following the departure of Andres Iniesta.
Speaking via Diario AS, Rakitic said that while Messi is the 'best in history' for him, he was at times 'not the best captain' while guiding others.
"Messi is the best in history, and if he put his mind to it, he could be the best left-back in the world if he wanted to! Although he was sometimes not the best captain to tell you what you had to do, that was because he was unique and different," Rakitic said.
Rakitic played alongside Messi in Barcelona between 2014 to 2020, making 277 appearances together across all competitions. They had 27 joint-goal contributions.
Rakitic left Barcelona in 2020 to return to the La Liga outfit Sevilla, before moving on to the Saudi Pro League club Al-Shabab. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi left Barca as a free agent in 2021 to join Paris-St Germain before making the switch to Inter Miami in 2023.
Lionel Messi led Barcelona to win the La Liga and Copa Del Rey as captain
Lionel Messi became the Blaugrana captain in 2018, following the departure of Andres Iniesta and continued to wear the armband until he exited the club in 2021.
With La Pulga as captain, Barcelona won the La Liga and the Supercopa de Espana (Spanish Super Cup) in the 2018-19 season. They also won the Copa Del Rey in the 2020-21 season.
However, Barcelona has also faced a few humiliating defeats under Lionel Messi's captaincy. The club lost 4-0 (4-3 aggregate) to Liverpool at Anfield in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final tie. This was widely considered one of the most disappointing defeats in the club's history.
In the 2019-20 season, Barcelona lost 8-2 to Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions.
In Messi's final season as a Barca player, the club bowed out of the UCL after a 5-2 aggregate loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16 despite the Argentine legend scoring once in each leg. The club also ost the La Liga to Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, respectively.
Lionel Messi's record as the captain of the Argentina national team has been a mixed bag as well. He led his country to three finals - the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the Copa America in 2015 and 2016 - but the side lost all three finals.
However, the Argentine led his country to victory in the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He currently also serves as the captain of the MLS club Inter Miami.
