“I almost forgot about Neymar” - When Lionel Messi named his 10 favorite teammates of all time
Lionel Messi once included Neymar among his 10 favourite teammates of all time. The Argentinean has enjoyed a long and fruitful career, and is still going strong with MLS side Inter Miami.
From scoring 91 goals in a calendar year to lifting the coveted FIFA World Cup, La Pulga is the benchmark of excellence in football. However, Lionel Messi has also played with some of the biggest names in football so far.
Speaking in 2023 to Titan Sports, as cited by Sport Bible, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner named ten former Barcelona players as his favorite teammates.
"I was lucky to play for a long time at Barcelona... with many of the best players. Like Ronaldinho, Deco, [Samuel] Eto'o, [Luis] Suarez, Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta, [Sergio] Busquets, I was lucky enough to play with the best players and enjoy the game with them. Speaking of which, I almost forgot about Neymar because there are so many people," said Messi.
He continued:
"There must be many players I forgot to mention. I've been lucky enough to play with the best players, with the best strikers, like Neymar, [Samuel] Eto'o, [Luis] Suarez, [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic and [David] Villa and many more. I've been comfortable playing with all of them, or almost all of them, because I've been lucky enough to play with the best of them... playing with them is easy.”
Lionel Messi's contract with Inter Miami expires at the end of this year and he hasn't signed a new deal yet.
How many trophies have Lionel Messi and Neymar won together?
Lionel Messi shared the pitch 206 times with Neymar for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), contributing 67 goals together. They won 149 games and lost 30.
The South American duo enjoyed great success during their time together at Camp Nou. In the four seasons that they played together, they won two LaLiga titles, three Copa del Rey, one Champions League, one FIFA Club World Cup, and one Supercopa de Espana.
The Brazilian left in 2017 to move to the Parc des Princes to carve a name for himself. However, he was reunited with his old friend when Messi joined the Parisians in the summer of 2021.
They played together at PSG for two seasons, winning the Ligue 1 twice and also lifting the Trophee des Champions. Both players left the French giants in the summer of 2023.
