Zinedine Zidane talking about how much he admires Lionel Messi made the GOAT visibly emotional

Lionel Messi was left visibly emotional after Zinedine Zidane spoke about how much he admires him.

In 2022, many football fans felt he became the undisputed GOAT after inspiring Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar.

When asked to describe Messi in a few words, former Real Madrid player and manager Zidane said: “It is just one word: ‘magic’. I mean, Leo and I are not together every day. So today is a very important day for me because I can tell him how much I admire him.

“And all the people who like football, and all these players who are different, I think he’s magic, magic in the sense that before receiving the ball, he already knew what needed to be done.”

The Frenchman continued: “Especially for me, as someone who understands football, watching you on the field, I almost knew what you were going to do, you know? It was like a connection.

“When I see him doing what he does, I say ‘that’s it’. That’s what people want to see in football, there are only a few of them. There are a few, but not like him. Only a few… Well one.”

Messi returned the favour when asked to speak about Zidane, he said: “I'm not saying this because he is here, I’ve said it several times before. I think he is one of the greatest players in history. I've always admired and liked him a lot. I followed him a lot in Madrid and he made me suffer because I was from Barcelona.

“I remember those times in Madrid, the ‘Galacticos’ the Euros you won. He’s always been a different player. Elegant, artistic, magic, he had it all.”

Messi added: “I have a lot of memories of him, I remember the goal against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League final, the goal he scored with his left leg, the goals he scored at the World Cup, the typical ‘roulette move’.

“There’s a play in Valencia where you end up finishing with your left, these are the things that those of us who love football enjoyed, I enjoyed it a lot even though it was difficult for me as a Barcelona fan.”