2003–05: Rise to the first team
"It seemed as if he had been enjoying with us all his life."
—Barcelona's then associate trainer Henk Ten Cate on Messi's first-team first appearance.[22]
During the 2003–04 year, his 4th with Spain's capital, Messi quickly developed through the golf club's positions, debuting for a record five groups in a single strategy. After being known as gamer of competitors in four worldwide pre-season contests with the Juveniles B, he performed only one formal complement the group before being marketed to the Juveniles A, where he obtained 18 objectives in 11 group activities.[23][24] Messi was then one of several youngsters gamers known as up to improve a exhausted first group during the worldwide break. At 16 decades, four several weeks, and 23 times old, he created his first group first appearance when he came on in the 75th moment during a friendly against José Mourinho's Porto on 16 Nov 2003.[14][25] His efficiency, creating two chances and a try on objective, satisfied the technological staff, and he consequently started coaching daily with the golf club's source side, Spain's capital B, as well as every week with the first group.[26] After his first workout with the mature team, Barça's new celebrity gamer, Ronaldinho, told his team members that he considered the 16-year-old would become an even better gamer than himself.[27] Ronaldinho soon befriended Messi, whom he known as "little sibling," which significantly reduced his conversion into the first group.[28][29]
To gain further coordinate experience, Messi registered with Spain's capital C in addition to the Juveniles A, enjoying his first game for the third group on 29 Nov. He assisted save them from the relegation area of the Tercera División, reviewing five objectives in 10 activities, such as a hat-trick in eight moments during a Language Cup coordinate while man-marked by Sevilla's Sergio Ramos.[23][30] His improvement was shown in his first professional agreement, finalized on 4 Feb 2004, which survived until 2012 and included an initial acquistion stipulation of €30 thousand. A month later, on 6 Goal, he created his first appearance for Spain's capital B in the Segunda División B, and his acquistion stipulation instantly improved to €80 thousand.[23][31] He performed five activities with the B group that year but did not ranking.[32] Actually he was sluggish than his competitors, who were often much older and higher, and in coaching he handled increasing his muscular huge and overall strength in order to be able to tremble off defenders. Towards the end of the year, he came back to both youngsters groups, helping the Juveniles B win the group. He finished the strategy having obtained for four of his five groups with a total of 36 objectives in all formal contests.[23][30]
During the 2004–05 year, Messi was an assured beginner for the B group, enjoying 17 activities throughout the strategy and reviewing on six events.[27][33] Since his first appearance the first Nov, he had not been known as up to the first group again, but in Oct 2004, the mature gamers requested administrator Honest Rijkaard to advertise him.[27] Since Ronaldinho already performed on the remaining side, Rijkaard shifted Messi from his regular position onto the right flank, though originally against the performer's desires, enabling him to cut into the center of the message and capture with his prominent remaining foot.[34][35] Messi created his group first appearance during the next coordinate on 16 Oct, against Espanyol, coming on in the 82nd moment.[14] At 17 decades, three several weeks, and 22 times old, he was at plenty of your time and effort the newest gamer to signify Spain's capital in the formal competitors.[29] Instead gamer, he performed only 77 moments in nine suits for the first group that year, such as his first appearance in the UEFA Winners League against Shakhtar Donetsk.[33][36] He obtained his first mature objective on 1 May 2005, against Albacete, from an assist by Ronaldinho, becoming in those times the youngest-ever scorer for the team.[34][37] Spain's capital, in their second year under Rijkaard, won the group for the first amount of your time and effort in six decades.[38]