Jérôme Boateng had to take on the best in his career. Mostly he passed the test – only Lionel Messi once showed him the limits.
Exactly five years ago, Bavarian professional Jérôme Boateng experienced an evening to forget at the legendary Camp Nou in Barcelona.
During the Champions League semi-final first leg between FC Barcelona and FC Bayern on 6 May 2015, Lionel Messi used a feint to make the Munich central defender sit on the back of his trousers. Messi then scored for a 2:0 lead that was decisive, and in the end Boatengs Munich went down 3-0.
But it was the scene before the second Barca goal that went around the world. Boateng, who was world champion at the time and at the height of his career, had to put up with mockery in the social media as images of the faltering defensive chicken against the filigree Argentinian technician went virally through the roof.
Boateng posts his own fall guy
To take the wind out of the sails of the annual jokes about his somewhat awkward looking stumble, Boateng now went on the offensive on the fifth “anniversary” of his fall.
The 31-year-old posted a photo of the scene himself on Twitter this year and wrote: “There you have it – something to laugh about in these hard days. In the meantime, I’ll grab some popcorn… …and watch the 2014 World Cup final.”
In Rio de Janeiro, Boateng and the German national team beat Argentina and Messi 1-0 after extra time in the final match of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The former international showed that he can smile about his slip in Barcelona, however, with a further comment in his mail.
After numerous users reminded him of the duel with Messi with GIFs and photos, Boateng demanded with two tears of laughing emojis: “You can stop tagging me now. I know it’s been five years today.”