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Fans were full of praise for Lionel Messi and simultaneously dished out at Cristiano Ronaldo following the news that the Argentine has donated his eighth Ballon d'Or to Barcelona.
This gesture would enable the Catalan giants to proudly display the title in their museum, along with the other seven trophies that Lionel Messi won during his tenure in Spain.
The 36-year-old forward was presented with a record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or title last year to commemorate his heroics in Argentina's triumph at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The period also coincided with Messi's final season at Paris Saint-Germain, where he led Les Parisiens to a French Supercup and Ligue 1 double.
Despite not being associated with Barcelona at all during his eighth win, La Pulga decided to hand over the award to the club where he made a name for himself. This gesture has awed fans from all around the world, who took to social media to share their thoughts over Lionel Messi's generous act.
One of fans compared his actions to that of Cristiano Ronaldo, writing on X (formerly Twitter):
"Real Madrid fans after seeing this because Ronaldo took his own when he left."
Another fan simply wrote:
"Legendary stuff. This genuinely had nothing to do with us, but here we are."
Here are some of the reactions to this development:
Lionel Messi is currently plying his trades in the MLS with Inter Miami, a side that he joined in the summer of 2023. The Barcelona icon managed to lead his side to their first-ever piece of silverware in his debut campaign, winning them the Leagues Cup trophy.
The Herons and Messi are scheduled to kick off the 2024 edition of the MLS with a match against Real Salt Lake later this month.
La Liga president states the league wasn't damaged after Lionel Messi's and Cristiano Ronaldo's departures
In a recent interview with A Bola, La Liga president Javier Tebas shared his views on the league's state in the post-Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo era. Tebas has claimed that the Spanish top flight hasn't been hurt by the legendary duo's departure, stating (via GOAL):
"[It] didn't cause any damage because we didn't shrink. The French league with Messi, Neymar and Mbappe didn't grow, Cristiano Ronaldo went to Italy and the Italian league's international revenues didn't increase, ours did even though we lost them both."
Tebas also stated that the injection of Kylian Mbappe would take the league to new heights, with the supposed move yet to receive any official confirmation. He even claimed that La Liga is better than the Premier League despite the Spanish first-division being the only major league in Europe to not use goal-line technology.
