Lionel Messi pens special message to Andres Iniesta on retirement

Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi took to social media to pay an emotional tribute to Andres Iniesta, following the Spanish midfielder's announcement of his retirement.

"One of the teammates with the most magic and one of those I enjoyed playing with the most. @andresiniesta8, the ball is going to miss you and so will all of us!! I wish you the best always, you are a phenomenon," Messi wrote on his Instagram story.

The two soccer giants shared four Champions League titles together at Barcelona in 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2015.

Iniesta also led Spain to World Cup glory in 2010, scoring the winning goal, and secured two European Championships titles.

Luis Enrique, who played alongside Iniesta at Barcelona and later managed the team, poignantly described Iniesta's impact:

“I’ve had the opportunity to be a teammate, to see him evolve, and then to see him as a player and me as a coach, the magnitude, the intensity.

“It reflects that situation when we were little, playing in the street until your mother called you and you couldn’t even see the ball anymore,” he remarked.