Lionel Messi honours Diego Maradona with moving tribute

Barcelona’s weekend outing against Osasuna resulted in a 4-0 victory in favour of the hosts. Martin Braithwaite opened the scoring for the Catalonians in the 29th minute, scoring his first goal at Camp Nou in the process. 

Antoine Griezmann joined the Dane on the scoresheet shortly before half time to put Barcelona 2-0 up at the break. The France international set up a goal for Philippe Coutinho in the 57th minute to put Barca 3 goals in front. 

However, the best moment of the match came in the 73rd minute when Lionel Messi managed to score a goal from open play this season, netting home a cool layoff from Trincao to score the last goal of the game. 

Clubs all across Europe are having a moment’s silence in the memory of the recently departed legend, Diego Maradona. Leo Messi went an extra mile to honour his former manager with his goal celebration. 

Where one legendary career ended, another began. Newell’s Old Boys was the last club that Maradona played for before hanging up his boots for good. The Argentine club was the place where Leo Messi started playing football before signing for Barcelona. 

To the surprise of fans watching at home, as well as his teammates, Leo Messi put on a Newell’s Old Boys shirt with the number 10 at the back to celebrate. An emotional La Pulga pointed towards the sky in memory of Maradona. 

Messi has rejected comparisons to Maradona, saying that the World Cup winner is the best there was, and the best there ever will be. He was also heralded as the heir of the legendary Maradona when he first started out his remarkable career. 

Maradona was Argentina’s knight in shining armour as he led the country to the 1986 World Cup almost all alone. While Messi has not managed to make it to the same level for Argentina, the 33-year-old has shone throughout his career for Barcelona, a club that Maradona once played for himself.