“My name is Lionel Messi. I’m 13 years old. I would like to play someday for Barca. I think it’s the best football club in the world,” a young Messi said in 2000.
“我的名字是里奧·梅西。我今年13歲。我想有朝一日為巴薩踢球。我認為那是世界上最好的足球俱樂部，”青澀的梅西在2000年時曾如此說道。

Messi realized his dream in 2004 as he made his official debut for Barcelona. As of late August , he has made 731 appearances and scored a ridiculous 634 goals for the club over the last 16 years. He has become the second most loyal player in European soccer history, according to Transfer Markt.
2004年，梅西實現了自己的夢想，在巴塞羅那首次正式亮相。截至今年八月底，在過去的16年間，他為該俱樂部出場731次，不可思議地打入634粒進球。據《轉會市場》網站報道，他是歐洲足球史上第二忠誠的球員。

However, things seem to be changing now. The legendary star has reportedly informed Barcelona on Aug 28 that he wanted to leave the club on a free transfer, which shocked the soccer world.
然而，如今一切似乎都在發(fā)生著變化。據報道，8月28日，這位傳奇球星告知巴塞羅那自己想要自由轉會，離開俱樂部，這一消息震驚足壇。

Speculation has it that the decision came after Barcelona’s humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in their Champions League quarterfinal tie on Aug 15. But Messi denied this in an exclusive with sports news website Goal.
猜測稱，這一決定源于巴塞羅那在8月15日的歐冠聯(lián)賽1/4決賽中以2-8的比分慘敗給拜仁慕尼黑。但梅西在接受體育新聞網站Goal的獨家采訪中，否認了這一說法。

So what led to this “breakup”?
所以，是什么導致了這場“分手”？

“I always want to win, I’m competitive and I don’t like to lose anything,” he told Goal.
“我一直都想要獲勝，我很好勝，不想失去任何東西，”他在接受Goal采訪時如此說道。

Barcelona hasn’t fared well in recent years, especially in the UEFA Champions League. The last league title Barcelona won dates back to the 2014-2015 season.
巴塞羅那近年來并不順利，尤其是在歐洲冠軍聯(lián)賽的比賽中。巴塞羅那上一個歐冠總冠軍還是在2014-2015賽季。

Besides, Spanish football website Marca lists some of the other “breakup” factors including a rift with the board, the breakdown in relationships with other club figures and his worries about aging senior players.
此外，西班牙足球網站Marca還列舉了一些其他的“分手”因素，如與董事會不和、與俱樂部的其他球員關系破裂以及對于自己身為老將力不從心的擔憂。

Messi has spent his entire professional career at Barcelona and helped the club win 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies, while he himself won six Ballon d’Ors.
梅西將自己整個職業(yè)生涯都獻給了巴塞羅那，幫助俱樂部贏得10個西甲總冠軍、4座歐冠獎杯，而他自己也六獲金球獎。

“Whether I go or stay, my love for Barca will never change,” Messi told Goal. This time, he has chosen to stay.
“無論去留，我對巴薩的熱愛永遠不會變，”梅西在接受Goal采訪時如此表示。而這一次，他選擇留下。

以上文章內容選自《21世紀學生英文報高中版》，詳情請見《21世紀學生英文報高中版》高一804期