Although he has been injured for several months, Ter Stegen is still a prominent figure at Barcelona. He is in the final stages of his recovery and already training on the field... and he threatens to take the starting goalkeeper spot from Szczesny. He reflected on all of this in the podcast ‘Phrasermäher’. However, the most striking part was his statements about Leo Messi. He didn't hesitate to shoot at the Argentine and show his darker side.

“He was upset with me, and I was upset with him”

Messi and Ter Stegen met in the summer of 2014 when the German goalkeeper joined Barcelona, where he became the starting keeper in the Champions League and Copa del Rey—both of which they won that season under coach Luis Enrique. A long-lasting relationship that ended in 2021 when Leo Messi moved to PSG... and it went through several tense moments between the two.

“Leo is a special character at this level because he gets motivated by many things that we don't see, I think. We’ve had moments where things didn’t work out between us because he was upset with me and I was upset with him. But not angry, in the sense that it lasted or anything like that,” said Ter Stegen. The moment in the tunnel after the famous 8-2 loss to Bayern in 2020 is especially memorable.

Ter Stegen does not share Messi's leadership model

Ter Stegen, however, emphasized his admiration for Messi as a player: "Leo is simply an incredible character on the field, and he plays with such ease that you’ll never see it again, I’m 100% sure of it. He has the skill: if he wants to make you look bad, he does it so easily, with a pass or shot that you’ll think: ‘That was impossible!’. And I’ve experienced that many times. And that’s why I’m also happy I had him always on my team in matches and not on the other side."

For a long time, there was even a debate about Messi's ability to be a leader at Barcelona. Something Ter Stegen never questioned... despite not sharing his leadership style: "We never argued, like to say we didn’t get along at all. But we had our moments, and that’s fine. We were together in the locker room for a long time, and it was definitely interesting to have him on the team and see how he leads. Whether or not it’s my style, it was interesting to see. Leo isn’t a loudmouth, he works a lot with his presence and doesn’t need to say much, honestly. And when he does say something, everyone listens.”