Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi sat down for a legendary chat on Adidas football’s YouTube channel. There are several quotes from the conversation that have grabbed the interest of the soccer community. Among these, Messi’s statement about the French icon during his time at Real Madrid is worth discussing.
The topic came into the light when both were asked to praise each other in a few words. Zidane praised Messi for being pure magic. In return, Messi stated: “I am not saying this because he is here, because I have said it several times before. I think he is one of the greatest players in history, I have always admired and liked him a lot. I followed him a lot in Madrid and he made me suffer a lot too because I was from Barcelona.”
The quote from Messi was a big statement regarding Zidane’s time at Real Madrid as a player. Messi kept an eye on the French icon throughout his time in Madrid, and it is evident that Zidane was influential for the Madrid-based side. Zidane’s performances at Real Madrid impacted Barcelona, which might be the only complaint from Messi about one of his idols.
Lionel Messi moved to Barcelona in 2000 and joined the La Masia academy. He made his professional debut for Barcelona in 2004. During the same time, Zidane moved from Juventus to Real Madrid in 2001 and spent five seasons in Spain before hanging his boots in 2006.
Zinedine Zidane’s record for Real Madrid against FC Barcelona
During his five years at Real Madrid, Zidane played 227 games for Los Blancos in all competitions. He scored 49 goals and assisted 68 more to create a lasting legacy at the club. Among these 227 games, he played 11 games against FC Barcelona and only lost three games.
During these 11 games, he scored three goals and two assists against Barcelona. The most influential performance came in the 2001/02 season in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. In the two legs, the French midfielder scored a goal and an assist to help Los Blancos advance to the final of the UCL.
The semi-final heroics might have been the biggest impact by Zidane, as evidenced by the statement of Lionel Messi in the Adidas video. The French icon scored a legendary goal in the final of the UCL that season, which was again mentioned by Lionel Messi in the same video.
Messi stated that he has a lot of memories of Zinedine Zidane and among those memories, he singled out his iconic goal against Bayer Leverkusen where he scored a volley with his left foot. The Argentine emphasized in the video that Zidane is one of the best players in history and judging by the midfielder’s time at Real Madrid, it is hard to argue against.