"He was not human" - When Lionel Messi claimed Barcelona wanted to sign PL star for his performance against Catalan giants

Lionel Messi once revealed that Barcelona wanted to sign current Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Fraser Forster following the latter’s heroics against La Blaugrana in a UEFA Champions League match. Forster produced a Man of the Match performance for Celtic against the Catalan club in a UCL group game in the 2012-13 season.

Celtic pulled off an odd-defying victory on November 7, 2012, against a Barcelona side featuring a lethal Lionel Messi. The Scottish side had lost the first leg of the tie 2-1 against the Catalan club at Camp Nou.

However, the reverse fixture produced a shock of a result as Celtic beat Barcelona 2-1 at Parkhead. Fraser Forster, who was in between the sticks for Celtic at the time, made a plethora of saves to help his side get their revenge on Barcelona.

Lionel Messi, who scored the consolation goal for Barcelona in the 2-1 defeat, spoke about Forster’s performance in the game in 2015, describing the goalkeeper’s performance as 'not human.' The Argentine icon claimed that Forster emerged as a potential replacement for Victor Valdes after the latter left Camp Nou in 2014. He said (via Daily Star):

"The performance of Fraser Forster against us was talked about for a long time. There was one game in Scotland when he was not human, it was the best goalkeeping performance I have seen."

''When Victor Valdes said that he was leaving Barcelona, we even talked about him playing here. I was sure he would end up at Arsenal, Chelsea, or Manchester United," he added.

Messi’s prognostication about Forster’s potential destination did not end right, as the latter didn’t play for any of the three clubs he mentioned. Fraser Forster currently plies his trade at Tottenham Hotspur as their second choice after spells with Newcastle, Southampton, and Celtic.

"It’s impossible to put into words" – When Fraser Forster responded to Lionel Messi’s comments after the Argentine icon praised him for his heroics in Celtic’s 2-1 won over Barcelona

In October 2023, Fraser Forster responded to Lionel Messi’s effusive praise of his performance for Celtic against Barcelona in the 2012-13 Champions League.

The current Spurs goalkeeper was excited with the compliments he had received from the Argentine icon and claimed that his side took the momentum gathered in the first leg of the clash against Barcelona to the second leg at Celtic Park.

He told Spursplay (via Metro):

"It's nice, isn't it? It’s impossible to put into words. We’d played them away, I think, two weeks earlier and we lost 2-1 in the last minute and I’d made saves, but the performance we’d put in away from home really carried us into the home one because we knew we’d have the fans with us."

He continued:

"But yeah, it was just one of those nights where everything, you know. You make a couple of saves early and you’re like, come on, bring it on. That team as well, if you don’t enjoy playing those games, do you know what I mean?"

He added:

"It was just one of those days when you’re in the zone and everything goes your way. You’re seeing the ball like it’s a gym ball and it’s just amazing. I think that after that night I didn’t sleep after the game, it was just amazing. I’m obviously fortunate to have played in those types of games and like I said before, half of my memories in that game are the atmosphere and the fans and lots of it is that rather than that save or this save. It was just – the occasion."

It is also important to know that only Barca and Celtic made it to the knockout stages from their group in that campaign.