Rakitic tells Messi: I have a trophy you will never win!

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 19 May 2021 11:54 BST
• 2 min read

Ivan Rakitic has joked to his former team-mate Lionel Messi that there is one trophy he possesses that the Argentine legend will never win himself.

Messi is one of the greatest footballers in the history of the game and has won a plethora of major team and individual trophies.

These include 10 La Liga titles, four Champions League crowns and six Ballons d’Or.

However, his former Barcelona team-mate Rakitic says there is one honour Messi will never win; the Europa League.

“I was speaking to Messi and said, ‘You have won it all, have scored all these goals’, but I told him, I have won a trophy you’ll never have,” Rakitic told LaLiga TV.

“You’ll never win the Europa League!”

Messi: Barcelona statistics in 2020/21

The Croat won the Europa League in 2013/14 with Sevilla, the club he re-joined last summer after six years with Barcelona.

Rakitic remembers his time at Camp Nou fondly.

“Those guys weren’t given anything,” Rakitic continued. “They earned their success. It’s no coincidence those guys have won it all.

“Every player had a part to play. Each of them did things their own way, but it’s always to win. We said in Berlin ahead of the Champions League final, ‘With everyone together, no one will beat us’.”

Messi’s Barcelona beat Rakitic’s Sevilla 3-0 in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, overturning a 2-0 deficit from the first leg.