Afellay on the insane pressure at Barca that had Messi throwing up

Afellay on the insane pressure at Barca that had Messi throwing up

Messi / | sport

He revealed that the Argentine star used to vomit in the bathroom ahead of games

Ibrahim Afellay played for Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and, despite his long and joyful career, with the Catalans he never reached his best level. He spoke to Voetbal Primeur about it and also revealed Lionel Messi struggled with the pressure at times.

“I had a lot of problems with the meals, I couldn’t eat before games, it was very hard but I forced myself to do it,” said Afellay.

On Messi, he said: “With Messi the pressure was so great that sometimes, just before going out to play, he threw up in the bathroom. And sometimes you saw it in the game, just before the start.”

He had plenty of praise for the Argentine. “This man has done everything you can in life. There will never be another player like him. If a person like him, who has nothing to prove to anyone, experiences that pressure, that means something, I think.”

Afellay added: “It was very tough for me, others were more worried the day before the game, and in the dressing room, just before the match, you thought ‘has someone died in their family or something like that?’.” 

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