A tribute in a Barcelona or Argentina shirt might not have felt right. No one expected a Newell’s one but it worked better
Lionel Messi could feel the weight of Diego Maradona’s No 10 on his back. It was the final moment before kick-off in the 917th game of his career, the first without Diego, and Europe’s largest stadium stood virtually empty and entirely silent. At each end of the ground, maternity hospital on one side and cemetery on the other, a picture of Maradona was projected on the screens, in the directors’ box a man held a framed shirt, and on the pitch Barcelona’s and Osasuna’s players gathered around the centre circle where a floral offering was made, four days after his death. Among them, Messi looked at his feet, knowing there was something he had to do.
Related: Napoli find truest tribute to Maradona by mirroring his magic against Roma | Nicky Bandini
