Barcelona was one of the few clubs that dominated Europe. The entire 2010s were adorned with battles that ultimately came down to Real Madrid vs Barcelona. Both teams have been Goliaths of soccer and terming them just ‘superteams’ would be a gross understatement.

In 2016, Barcelona’s roster had Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Suarez on offense. Busquets and Rakitic riled the midfield, and Pique was the backbone of the back line. The names here could scare any team. But, Real Madrid also had their own super team. It made the clash between these titans all more interesting.

Real Madrid’s offense had Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Gareth Bale. Arguably, the six players from everyone’s top 10 offense players list were playing under these banners. There were many known mini-battles among these teams, the most known one was and has been Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi. But, in 2016, there was one more battle going on. It was a lesser-known one, but it was brewing and brought Barcelona’s offense stars closer.

Lionel Messi sacrificed his stats for Suarez

In a recent interview, Barcelona legend Luis Suarez talked about how he won the 2015-16 European Golden Shoe Award. At the time, he was closely battling with Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo. Suarez would eventually go on to win the title with 3 more goals than the Portuguese superstar. However, in this story, Lionel Messi and Neymar have contributions that came to light 3 days ago when Luis Suarez talked about it.

Talking in an interview with Placar, Suarez said, “And then, when I was fighting for the 2016 European Golden Shoe with Cristiano Ronaldo, they helped me win. They let me take penalties, they gave me passes to score more goals, and I’ll always be grateful for that because it’s a demonstration. For us, Messi was the best in the world and for me, Neymar was the second best, but they helped me to win the Golden Boot.”

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“It’s further proof that three stars together can play on the same team with the goal of winning for the team, not individually. And I think that was what made us better and good companions.” In that year, they would go on to win Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup.

Is Messi coming back home?

The ongoing situation between Barcelona and Messi has excited a spark of hope among fans. After winning the Qatar WC, Lionel Messi has reportedly decided against signing the extension with French soccer giants PSG. He will be a free agent soon and fans are freaking out thinking about the possibility of Messi returning to Camp Nou.

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Given the situation, it seems very difficult for Barcelona to be able to afford to sign Messi. It is possible that he takes a hefty pay cut and it seems that is a very strong possibility. The rumors of Messi returning to Barca are getting stronger daily. Only the summer transfer window will have a definitive answer for all the fans.