Sevilla's Ivan Rakitic heaped praise on his former teammate Lionel Messi saying that it was a dream playing next to the Argentine.
Rakitic played alongside Messi at Barcelona before making a move to Sevilla in September.
"One hundred percent football. It doesn't matter who you are, you just have to watch and enjoy this guy. He's on another level. With all respect to the other greats, there's only one number one - it's Leo. To play 311 games next to him, it was a dream. I enjoyed it so, so much. I just want to say this: 'Thank you for everything, Leo, because you'll never know how much it meant to me to play next to you.'," FIFA's official website quoted Rakitic as saying.
Rakitic then also reflected on his time at Barcelona saying that he will have the club in his heart for the rest of his life.
"Six years, 311 games - the foreigner with the fourth-most games after Messi, D Alves and Mascherano - 13 titles. I think I can say that I'm part of the history of the club. I got so much out of those six years. I will have Barcelona - the club, the city, the people - in my heart for the rest of my life. My family got bigger there - my youngest daughter was born in Barcelona. I'm really proud of my time there and will always cherish it," he said.
Sevilla have so far played seven matches in the 2020-21 season of the La Liga, recording three wins, three defeats and one draw. Sitting on the 12th spot on the La Liga standings, the club will take on Celta Vigo in the next match, slated to take place on November 21.
( With inputs from ANI )
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