The Flea from Rosario: The Lionel Messi Story

Chapter 3: La Masia Magic and Forging a Star (2001–2004)The First Night in a Foreign City (March 2001)

The Messis landed at El Prat airport on a rainy Saturday, greeted by a club driver holding a cardboard sign: MESSI – FCB. Leo, still 13, clutched a backpack with his PlayStation and a photo of his grandmother Celia. The family was driven to the Hotel Princesa Sofía, a concrete tower near Camp Nou, where Barcelona housed trialists. That night, Leo couldn’t sleep. The city hummed differently—no tango on the radio, no smell of asado from neighbors’ grills. He pressed his face to the window and saw the stadium’s floodlights glowing like a distant moon. “Mañana empieza todo,” Jorge whispered. Tomorrow it all begins.

The Medical Lifeline (2001)

Barcelona’s medical director, Dr. Emili Ricart, ran exhaustive tests. Leo’s bone age lagged two years behind his chronological age; his growth plates were still open, but barely. The club enrolled him in a rigorous protocol: nightly injections of Genotropin (0.4 mg/kg/week), calcium supplements, and a diet of 3,000 calories—grilled chicken, quinoa, and pa amb tomàquet instead of milanesas. Leo hated the needles but loved the food. Within six months, he grew 4 cm and gained 3 kg of lean muscle. The Flea was stretching his wings.

La Masia: The Monastery of Football (2001–2002)

La Masia, the 300-year-old farmhouse beside Camp Nou, housed 60 boys aged 12–18. Leo shared a bunk room with two Catalans and a Senegalese striker. Rules were monastic: lights out at 10:30 p.m., no PlayStation after 9 p.m., mandatory Spanish classes. The first week, Leo spoke only in monosyllables. His roommate, Cesc Fàbregas (then 14), became translator and protector. “He’d wake up dribbling in his sleep,” Cesc later recalled. “The ball was glued to his foot even in dreams.”

Training began at 7 a.m. with rondos—a circle of players keeping the ball from two defenders. Leo was the smallest, but the ball never left his orbit. Coach Rodolfo Borrell timed him: 7 seconds to beat three players in a 5x5-meter box. The record stood at 12. Borrell rewrote the drills to challenge him. Leo’s first youth match was for Infantil A against Espanyol. He scored a hat-trick in 12 minutes, then asked to be substituted—his legs cramped from the growth hormone’s side effects. The physio massaged him on the sideline while 200 parents chanted “¡Me-ssi! ¡Me-ssi!”

The Homesick Winter (2001–2002)

By December, the glamour faded. Leo missed his brothers’ pranks, his mother’s empanadas, the smell of eucalyptus after rain. He called Rosario collect every Sunday, crying when Maria Sol told him their dog had died. Barcelona’s youth psychologist, Marta Lusilla, diagnosed acute homesickness. The club allowed Celia and Maria Sol to move permanently; Jorge and the boys stayed in Argentina to work. The reunion stabilized Leo. He began speaking Catalan—haltingly, with a thick rosarino accent—and scored 37 goals in 30 games for Cadete B.

The Porto Friendly: A Star is Born (November 16, 2003)

At 16 years and 145 days, Messi was invited to a friendly in Porto for the inauguration of the Dragão stadium. Barcelona’s first team was short on numbers; coach Frank Rijkaard needed a wildcard. Leo warmed up in a tracksuit two sizes too big. With 15 minutes left and Barça leading 2–0, Rijkaard pointed: “Tú, calienta.” Leo entered to a smattering of applause. Thirty seconds later, he received the ball on the left touchline, nutmegged Costinha, chipped the keeper, and watched the ball kiss the crossbar. The stadium gasped. On the next play, he drew a penalty, converted by Ronaldinho. Portuguese newspapers splashed: “El argentino de 16 años que humilló al Dragão.”

Back in the locker room, Ronaldinho draped an arm around him: “Tranquilo, hermanito. Esto es solo el comienzo.” The clip went viral on early YouTube; Maradona, watching in Buenos Aires, phoned Rexach: “Tell the kid to keep the ball on the ground. The sky’s already his.”

The B-Team Leap and Injuries (2003–2004)

In July 2003, Messi was promoted to Barcelona B, coached by Pere Gratacós. The Tercera División was physical—grown men with beards and mortgages. Leo, now 1.55 m, faced tackles that left cleat marks on his shins. He scored 12 goals in 15 games, but a fractured fibula against Palamós in November sidelined him for six weeks. During recovery, he trained with the first team. Xavi Hernández, then 23, marveled: “He asks questions like a veteran—‘Why do you check your shoulder there?’—then does it better than you.”

By spring 2004, Leo was back, captaining the Juvenil A to the Spanish youth treble. In the final against Espanyol, he scored a Maradona-esque solo goal: 60 meters, five players beaten, a chipped finish. The Camp Nou scout, stood on the touchline, turned to Rijkaard: “We can’t keep him in the B team. He’s embarrassing men twice his age.”

The Contract and the Number 19 (October 2004)

On October 16, 2004, Messi debuted for the senior team in a derby against Espanyol. He replaced Deco in the 82nd minute, wearing number 19—the first time a youth player received a first-team shirt mid-season. He touched the ball four times: one nutmeg, one foul won, two safe passes. The 90,000 fans chanted his name for the first time. In the tunnel, Samuel Eto’o hugged him: “Welcome to the jungle, little brother.”

That night, Leo called Rosario. Matías answered, half-asleep. “I played at Camp Nou,” Leo said, voice cracking. “They chanted my name.” Matías whooped so loudly the neighbors complained. In La Bajada, someone spray-painted on a wall: “La Pulga ya pica en Europa.” The Flea was stinging in Europe.

La Masia had taken a boy with a fragile body and a suitcase of dreams, injected him with medicine and discipline, and forged a weapon. The world was about to feel the bite.