When it came to a certain Real Madrid great, however, Lionel Messi made an exception to his no-shirt-exchange policy.

The captain of the Swiss team, Mohamed Ali Camara, approached Erling Haaland before halftime of Manchester City’s 3-0 Champions League triumph over Young Boys and asked for the striker’s shirt.

After hearing “you cannot do this,” the City forward, who had scored twice, reluctantly gave the defense his shirt. Indeed, it is not customary for a player to request such a remembrance from an opposition player mid-game.

Naturally, the shirt of Lionel Messi, winner of the Ballon d’Or an unprecedented eight times, would be the most coveted in all of football. Since the Argentine joined Inter Miami, his game shirts have been highly sought after by rival players who hope to acquire a piece of soccer history.

However, in 2019, Messi claimed that his standard practice is to swap shirts with teammates but never ask opponents to do the same.

Unless your name is Zidane, of course.

Messi admitted that he had asked the Frenchman for his shirt despite the fact that Barcelona and Real Madrid are bitter rivals.

“I don’t ask for shirts, I usually swap them, but I asked Zidane once,” he previously told TyC Sports.

“If there is an Argentine I swap it with him, but, unless someone asks me, I’m not asking anyone.”

Of course, Zidane forged an extraordinary career on both the club and international levels, capturing league titles in Italy with Juventus and Spain with Real, as well as the World Cup in 1998.

The offensive midfielder also took home the Ballon d’Or that year.