Lionel Messi pays emotional tribute to Andres Iniesta who announced his retirement

Lionel Messi pays emotional tribute to Andres Iniesta who announced his retirement

Lionel Messi pays emotional tribute to Andres Iniesta who announced his retirement. Lionel Messi has paid an emotional tribute to former Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta, who has confirmed his retirement from professional football.

Iniesta bows out of the game at the age of 40, having spent five years in Japan with Vissel Kobe after leaving Barcelona, before playing one final season in the United Arab Emirates with Emirates Club.

The Spaniard scored the deciding goal to win his nation the 2010 World Cup and is synonymous with Barca, having made 674 appearances for La Blaugrana before departing in 2018.

He had many iconic colleagues at Camp Nou, but arguably none more so than Messi. The pair played in 488 official matches together, and won countless trophies in Catalonia, including four Champions Leagues and nine La Liga titles.

Taking to social media, Messi showered the former midfielder and teammate with praise, describing him as one of his favourite players to ever share the pitch with.

He wrote:

“One of the teammates with the most magic and the one I enjoy playing together the most.

Andres, the ball is going to miss you and so are all of us. I wish you the best always, you are a phenomenon.”