Coaches often see more than meets the eye in their players, and Ronald Koeman noticed a pattern in Lionel Messi‘s play and his partnership with Pedri González during his time at Barcelona.
The current coach of the Dutch national team revealed that he witnessed the connection between the two stars thanks to an ‘unusual’ detail about Leo.
Former Barça coach makes a confession about Messi
With Barcelona, Messi won 35 trophies, including 10 La Liga titles, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 7 Copa del Rey titles, 4 Champions League titles, 3 European Super Cups, and 3 Club World Cups. This was the most successful stage of the Argentine’s career, but also where he took his first steps in soccer after his official debut with the first team in October 2004 at the age of 17.
In his last year at the club, during 2020-2021 and under Koeman’s guidance, Messi formed a great partnership with Pedri, but the coach noticed something special in the Argentine’s behavior:
“I was the first Barcelona coach to meet Pedri. I didn’t know who he was. Barcelona signed him from Las Palmas and then wanted to loan him out. That was the plan. But after two days of training, I saw an absolutely incredible footballer, but above all, I saw Lionel Messi constantly trying to connect with him. Messi only passed the ball to Pedri,” he revealed in an interview with ESPN via Barca Universal.
However, what caught the attention was his subsequent confession about Leo’s condition for passing the ball to his teammates:
“Believe me, if Messi doesn’t value you, he won’t pass you the ball in training; he’ll just ignore you. I saw their connection grow. For me, that was the definitive confirmation that I had made the right decision in keeping Pedri at Barcelona,” he added.
During his time at Barça, Leo scored 672 goals and made 269 assists in 778 games played. However, in his last season with the club, he not only won the Copa del Rey, but also made a total of 50 goal contributions with 38 goals and 14 assists, just under half of his goals.
The truth is that Leo has not only stood out for his scoring statistics, with 899 goals in his entire career, but he is also the top assist provider in soccer history, with a total of 407 assists.
After signing a two-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain from 2021 to 2023, he accumulated 35 assists, while currently at Inter Miami he has already racked up 42 since his arrival in 2023.
With the Argentina national team, Leo is also the all-time leading assist provider at the international level with 61 assists.
Without a doubt, Leo not only defines plays but also creates opportunities for his teammates, and, of course, with those he gets along with best on the field, his assist level is even higher.
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