Barcelona captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen speaks on his relationship with Lionel Messi

Messi and the German goalkeeper spent a few years together playing for the Catalan club.

Barcelona skipper Marc-Andre ter Stegen recently opened up about his friendship with former colleague and club star Lionel Messi in an open interview with BILD (via SPORT).

Before Messi was forced to depart Barça on a free transfer in 2021, he and Ter Stegen were together for seven years.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen disclosed in the interview that although the two had tremendous success in the field, they did not always get along. In response to a question about his favourite Messi moment, the German international stated:

“The good moments or the bad moments? [laughs] We had them all.

“Leo is a special character at this level because he is motivated by a lot of things that we don’t see, I think. We’ve had moments where things didn’t work out between us because he was annoyed with me and I was annoyed with him.”

When asked further about the circumstances and how they materialized, Ter Stegen responded: “I think Leo is probably the only player who, if he wants to shoot you in the face, he can. The others would probably shoot anywhere, but he has the ability to hit the target.”

🚨 Marc-André ter Stegen: "Messi gets motivation from many things that we don’t. There were times when we didn’t get along, whether it was because of me or because of him. I have always had a lot of respect for him, and he has often respected my opinion as well. You also learn… pic.twitter.com/alygO2tkZO

— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) April 8, 2025

In response to the question of whether he ever encountered such a circumstance with Messi, he added: ”Several times (smiles). But not angry at all, in the sense that it didn’t drag on or anything like that.

“Leo is just an impressive character on the pitch, and he plays with a lightness that you will never see again, I’m 100% sure of that.”

Finally, when asked if he and Messi ever made peace, Marc-Andre ter Stegen replied: “We never argued, as if to say we didn’t get along at all. But we had our moments, and that’s fine.

“We were in the locker room together for a long time, and it was definitely interesting to have him in the team and see how he leads. Whether it’s my style or not, it was interesting to see.

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