Barcelona president Joan Laporta made use of the club’s anniversary ceremony to lavish praise on the club’s greatest-ever player – Lionel Messi.
A lavish gala is currently taking place in Catalunya’s capital.
This comes as part of the celebrations for Barcelona’s 125th anniversary.
A whole host of Blaugrana legends have been spotted in attendance at the event, joined by Hansi Flick’s current crop of stars.
The aforementioned Lionel Messi, for his part, was afforded an invitation, but was unable to attend owing to immovable prior commitments.
As alluded to above, though, the Argentine was nevertheless recognised for his legendary contributions to Barca’s recent past.
Whilst addressing the room amid a lengthy speech, Joan Laporta paid tribute to a number of high-profile figures.
And front and centre was Messi, whom Barcelona’s president went as far as to label ‘the most decisive player in the history’ of the Catalan club.
Conor Laird – GSFN
