Messi: Alba suddenly decided to retire, we had not discussed it beforehand, it was very sudden and surprising

November 11 Today, "Daily Sports" released an exclusive interview with Messi two weeks ago, in which he talked about the retirement of Busquets and Alba.

Q: You lost two of your friends who came here together? (Referring to the retirement of Alba and Busquets)

Messi: It feels very strange.

Q: What does "very strange" mean?

Messi: To be honest, especially Alba's situation is very strange because we did not expect him to make this decision. As for Busquets, we talked more before and he was already thinking and talking about it, but Alba’s decision was sudden and we didn’t expect it.

One day in the locker room, he caught us and said he was ready to announce (retirement) without any previous talk or discussion. It was sudden and even more surprising to us. But yeah, it's a pity because besides the chemistry on the court, we're also good friends. When we started our trip to Miami together, we were very emotional watching each other gradually approach the end of their careers.

We are from the same generation of players and have been together throughout our careers, and it was great to be able to share time together in the last few years.