Lionel Messi named Barcelona captain for 2018/19 season
Friday 10 August 2018 13:42, UK
Lionel Messi has been named as Barcelona's new captain for the 2018/19 season.
The Argentine 31-year-old takes over the role following the departure of Andres Iniesta to Japanese club Vissel Kobe.
Messi, who has been at Barcelona since the age of 13, is one of four players to be given new responsibilities by the Catalan club. Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto will also wear the armband when required.
From that quartet, the club announced on their official website that Messi will be their first-choice captain with Busquets as vice-captain.
Gerard Pique is next in line as third choice while Sergi Roberto is the last of the group, taking the place of Javier Mascherano, who signed for Hebei China Fortune in January.
Barcelona start the defence of their La Liga title at home against Alaves on August 18th. Before that they will try to win their 13th Spanish Super Cup title against Sevilla on Sunday.
