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When the year starts the objective is to win it all with the team, to win all the competitions.
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About this quote

Meaning

This is a straightforward expression of total ambition at the start of a season. The goal is not to target one competition or manage expectations sensibly; it is to win everything available. It reflects a winner's mentality where anything short of the maximum is considered an opportunity missed.

Context

At the highest levels of club football, teams regularly compete across a domestic league, a domestic cup, and a major continental competition in the same season. Winning all three is extremely rare and demanding, which makes the aspiration significant. Messi made this kind of comment in the context of his time at FC Barcelona, a club that built its identity around competing seriously on every front. The culture around him reinforced the idea that competing fully in every tournament was the only acceptable approach.

About the author

Lionel Messi grew up in Rosario, Argentina, and relocated to Spain as a child to join the youth academy at FC Barcelona. He developed into the first-team's central figure and became one of the most decorated players in the history of the sport, winning multiple league titles, domestic cups, and Champions League trophies. He later represented Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami, and he won the FIFA World Cup with Argentina in 2022. His career has been defined by exactly the kind of collective ambition this quote describes.

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