Lionel Messi used the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports in Oviedo to make the emotional centre of the night clear. At the Teatro Campoamor, presided over by the kings of Spain, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, Messi received the 2026 prize after the jury cited his “dazzling talent”, his “exceptional sporting career” and his charitable work helping disadvantaged children access education and healthcare.
“My children are Catalan, I have lived there all my life, I feel like I am from Barcelona,” Messi said, speaking to Estadio Deportivo in comments translated from Spanish. He added that he had lived in Spain from 2000 to 2021, a spell he described as 21 years. The most revealing part was not the award itself. It was the way he kept returning to Barcelona, the city, the club and the life he left behind.
Barcelona and the return he only imagines
Messi said, “In our minds there is the day tomorrow to live there again, because my children, my wife and I miss our life in Barcelona very much; we have friends and we left many things there.” That is still a hope, not a plan. No date or move followed, and the line sits alongside a second version of the same theme he gave to TuttoMercatoWeb, where he said it is difficult to explain what Barcelona means to him and spoke about the “special love” he feels for the city and the club.
He tied that affection to the most successful years of his career, saying Barcelona were lucky enough to win everything and that what mattered most was enjoying the training sessions and the everyday details together. The tone was consistent across the interviews, warm but not vague. He was not revising his past, he was confirming how central that period still is to his sense of self.
The legacy Messi wants
The other thread was legacy. Messi said he wants to be remembered “as a great athlete who always fought to achieve his goals and dreams,” and in another interview added that he never stopped trying to win everything that was in front of him. He also described the 2022 World Cup with Argentina as the culmination of his career, a moment that meant more than a dream.
The wider praise around him matched that framing. Pedri called him the greatest player ever at Barcelona and the greatest player of all time, while Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said Messi is an example of many values on the human and sporting level. Pedri has 1 goal and 1 assist in 9 La Liga appearances, a reminder that the admiration is coming from a current Barcelona player, not just a distant former teammate.
Messi still has 8 goals and 4 assists in 8 appearances for Argentina at the 2026 World Cup, with 771 minutes on the pitch. The Oviedo ceremony was supposed to be about an award, but the lines that matter most were about Barcelona, where he still says he feels he belongs.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →
