Messi Announces Arrival Of His 3rd Child – To Miss Barca Match (Photo)
Lionel Messi has announced that he and his wife Antonella Roccuzzo had become parents for a third time on Saturday after Barcelona had announced earlier in the day that he had withdrawn from the squad to face Malaga.
“Welcome Ciro!!! Thank God, everything went perfectly. He and his mummy are doing very well. We are super happy!!!” wrote Messi on his Instagram account, accompanying the post with a photo of the baby’s hand.
Ciro is a brother to five-year-old Thiago and Mateo, who is two.
Watch out, defenders - there's a new #Messi!
Congratulations to Leo and Antonella on the birth of their third child.
Messi had pulled out of Barcelona’s squad for Saturday’s La Liga match at Malaga to be present for the birth.
The club tweeted: “Change to the squad. Messi is out for personal reasons and Yerry Mina takes his place.”
The Argentinian couple, both 30, first met in their home town, Rosario, in 1996 and started going out a decade later. They were married last year in Rosario.
Barcelona, who face Chelsea in the second leg of their last-16 Champions League tie at the Camp Nou on Wednesday, have an eight-point lead over Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Messi himself, meanwhile, has enjoyed another standout season for Barca in 2017-18, with 32 goals netted in just 41 appearances.
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