- This will be the 57th edition of the Joan Gamper Trophy and Barca will celebrate their founder, Joan Gamper, and present the squad, especially the new signings to the fans at the Camp Nou.
The match will be played in front of a Camp Nou crowd after two years: one was played behind closed doors and the other at the Estadi Johan Cruyff.
It was the 2005 edition of the Joan Gamper Trophy which will always be remembered as that of the definitive emergence of the young Argentine star, Lionel Messi.
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| Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou |
Barcelona were up against Fabio Capello's Juventus and as David Salina's writes in Sport, 'it was then that a boy of 18 years and two months named Lionel Andrés Messi burst onto the scene. He harnessed a talent that had not been seen for a long time.'
'The passing of the years has changed the perspective of that moment as in truth the Gamper was Messi's twenty-second game with the first team (nine official and thirteen friendlies). The fans already knew the Rosario.'
What happened was that against Juventus he showed, for the first time, his inexhaustible array of manoeuvres and won over the Camp Nou crowd. The Gamper was the take-off moment.
Juventus eventually won a thrilling match on penalties after a 2-2 draw. During that summer, Inter Milan president and owner, Massimo Moratti, had told Italian media: “I’d spend crazy money if I could buy Messi. He’s the only guy to have inspired me this much in a long, time”.
Messi wore the number 30 shirt and played as a right winger, with a tendency to swing down the center. Barca faithful had suffered Madrid’s dominance so long that a 100,000 Catalans roared to witness the emergence of this young genius.
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| Eto'o, Ronaldinho, and Rijkaard at a press conference |
It was a time when Rijkaard, Ronaldinho and Eto’o had brought the good times back. The fans were desperate to see how Messi would perform against Fabio Cannavaro, Patrick Vieira, Giorgio Chiellini, Mauro Camoranesi, Alessandro Del Piero and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
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| Messi dribbling past Juventus players |
In the 6th minute and 27th second, Messi concocted the first big play of the game with a slick dribble leaving the Vecchia Signora's two tough guys, Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluca Pesotto sprawling on the ground. The 'Rai' announcers began to praise him: "fantasy, absolute talent".
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| Patrick Viera tackling Messi |
By the 59th minute, Messi had forced the third yellow card as he rolled on the pitch, this time because of a tackle by Patrick Vieira. The Rosario was head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch and the big boys of Juve hadn't expected anything close to this.
In the 66th minute Messi supplied a wonderful, defence-splitting 25-metre pass for Andres Iniesta's goal to cap a landmark performance. The crowd went absolutely wild. ‘Messi-Messsssi-Messsssi’ chants rained down the Camp Nou.
At the post-match press conference came the historic words of Fabio Capello: “I have not seen a player of such quality at his age. Bah! With personality, speed."
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| Frank Rijkaard and Fabio Capello talking after the match |
Capello in his own words wanted to 'sign' Messi after seeing him play the first 20 minutes: “I approached Rijkaard, who was my player at Milan, and told him: “Frank, you can leave him on loan to Juve for a year…”
Juve's offer was instantly rebuffed. President Joan Laporta knew a good thing when he saw it. Capello continued backstage, “In my entire life I have never seen a player of such quality at such a young age, particularly wearing the ‘heavy’ shirt of one of the world’s great clubs."
Messi had a humble outlook and downplayed the game: "I went out to play as if I were in the reserve team, I only thought about doing things well."
Rijkaard, for his part, was amazed: “What Leo has done today has been impressive. He has shown all his talent against a team that did everything to win, including committing many fouls to slow him down. It has been a pleasure to see him on the field.”
Messi had arrived.
Laporta has once again laid the first stone of a winning and exciting project. Once again we're at the Gamper, which again looks to be a turning point for Barcelona.
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| Lewandowski at the Barca Museum |
Lewandowski, Koundé, Kessie Christensen, and of course Raphinha, have all jumped into a pool without knowing if there was water, dazzled by the history of the club and the colors of its shield, the same one that they will wear today in front of a packed Camp Nou.
The faith these players have placed in the project, despite being aware of the club's shambolic economic situation deserves the support of the Camp Nou. Barca once again can boast of a line-up that can take on the greats of Europe.
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| Xavi Hernandez officially being introduced as Barca coach |
Xavi will be in front of his fans today introducing the project that he will lead since its inception.
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| Dani Alves at the Camp Nou to play the Joan Gamper match |
And not to forget, Barca will have very special guest. Their very own Dani Alves who will say good bye to the fans.
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