Lionel Messi Broke Own Rule to Ask Player to Swap Shirts Midway Through Final
For years, it was suggested that Lionel Messi had approached just one player about a shirt swap, but it turns out the 2015 Champions League final delivered another exception to the rule.
Messi is known to have a personal rule of not requesting shirts unless the other player asks first.
In fact, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has revealed that he only initiated one swap over his career. “I don't ask for shirts, I usually swap them, but I asked Zinedine Zidane once," he told TyC Sports in 2017.
He added: “If there is an Argentine, I swap it with him, but, unless someone asks me, I'm not asking anyone.”
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Messi appeared to suggest Zidane as being the only player he approached regarding a jersey swap, but now, another player has come forward to suggest the Argentine made a beeline for his shirt.
Speaking in an interview with Corriere, former Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon claimed Messi approached him midway through the 2015 Champions League final between Barcelona and Juventus.
Asked what Messi is like as a person, Buffon said: "Champions League final in 2015. Halftime. I felt a hand on my back: 'Gigi, shall we swap shirts now?' It was Messi. The true great never put on airs."
Buffon, who made over 500 appearances for Juventus during his first spell in Turin, later revealed that he had the chance to play alongside Messi at Barcelona, but a literal sign pointed him in the direction of another club.
"I had an offer from Barcelona as a second goalkeeper: I liked the idea of playing with Messi, after CR7," he said.
"But one day I was driving, and on the radio came a song by Jovanotti that I loved very much and hadn't heard in ten years: 'Bella'. I looked up and saw the Parma toll booth. A sign. Ending where it all began."
Buffon, who named Messi as one of the best players he came up against alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta, singled out Neymar as someone who should have won five Ballon d'Ors.
Lionel Messi refused shirt swap but eventually gave it to him years later
More than two years after Messi was 'too upset' to swap jerseys with him, Alphonso Davies finally got his wish after Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain.
The Canadian full-back was denied Messi's shirt back in August 2020, when Bayern knocked eight goals past Barcelona in a memorable Champions League quarter-final.
After that game, Davies failed in his pursuit of what many deem the ultimate souvenir. "I asked for it but I think he was a little bit upset," the left-back told BT Sport after the full-time whistle. "It's OK, next time hopefully."
But over 900 days later and the defender managed to get the shirt he'd always dreamed of.
Shortly after Kingsley Coman scored the only goal in Paris to give Bayern a 1-0 advantage going into the Champions League last-16 second leg, Davies looked thrilled as he walked towards the Parc des Princes tunnel with Messi's shirt in hand.
Topics: Lionel Messi, Argentina, Champions League, FC Barcelona
Jack Kenmare