Lionel Messi’s known to have a dark side, but no one is quite as aware of it as Marc Andre ter Stegen.
The Barcelona No.1 played with the Argentine World Cup winner at Barcelona from 2014 to 2021, winning 13 trophies, including the Champions League and two LaLigas.
In the team’s group of captains, it was often rumoured that the pair didn’t always get on, and now Ter Stegen has confirmed those reports in amusing fashion.
Speaking to BILD podcast Phrasenmaher ahead of his return from injury, the Barca captain was asked by friend Kevin Kampl about his best story playing with Messi and came up with a belter.
“There were always things going on, sometimes there was friction, sometimes there was less friction,” he began.
“That just happens in the locker room. Leo is a special character, who’s on that level because he draws motivation from many things we don’t see.
“We had moments where things maybe didn’t go so well between us, because he got annoyed with me and I got annoyed with him.”
Ter Stegen then started smirking as he continued: “I believe he’s probably the only player – if I may say so – who, if he wants to shoot the ball in your face, he can actually shoot the ball in your face.
“The others would probably shoot somewhere else, but he unfortunately has the ability to hit exactly where he wants to.
“He actually did that once, multiple times, when he was angry. But not with a grudge, not like it lasted a long time or anything.
“But I think sometimes he had a bit of anger toward me… and that anger came from the fact that I’m someone who stands his ground when I have a different opinion.”
Ter Stegen joined Barca in 2014 from Borussia Mönchengladbach where he’d spent all of his career previously.
PhrasenmäherTer Stegen had to laugh remembering the moment[/caption]His first season saw a European treble win under Luis Enrique, with Messi flanked by Neymar and Luis Suarez for one of football’s all-time great attacking tridents.
Ter Stegen spent his early years at Barca rotating with Claudio Bravo who started in LaLiga while he played mainly in the cups.
Growing frustrated, he’s revealed that a surprise face turned up in Spain to have a word with him about a move – Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola.
“He told me he’d love to have me. Pep made a great effort,” Ter Stegen recalled.
“Then I thought about it and told myself that this could be the solution to my problem, and that the plan they have at City seemed very interesting.”
However, Luis Enrique blocked the move and it ended up being Bravo who moved to City in 2016, allowing Ter Stegen to become Barca’s undisputed No.1.
He’s since taken the same role for Germany, but also had to bide his time, with Manuel Neuer in the way until his international retirement in August 2024.
Yet Ter Stegen only got two games under his belt for his country as their new man in goal before rupturing his patellar tendon against Villarreal in September.
During the interview the 32-year-old added that he hopes to make his comeback during the current campaign, but may once again face competition with former Arsenal and Juventus man Wojciech Szczesny making the position his own.
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