The premiere of the Cirque du Soleil show based on the career of Barcelona forward Lionel Messi took place in the Catalan capital on Thursday.
Messi10 will run for a month at the Parc del Forum theatre in Barcelona, before travelling to the player's home country of Argentina next summer.
The man himself was present with his family for the big night in Spain and the event has captured people's imagination with the opening performance quickly selling out.
The production is described as "a euphoric 90-minute thrill ride that combines breathtaking physical performance with unthinkable poetic wonder".
In true football fashion, the show, which will last until January 2020, lasts for 90 minutes, divided into two halves of 45.
"It's impressive," the 32-year-old, five-time Ballon d'Or winner, said in an interview with RAC1. "It was very weird when it all started, when they said they wanted to do this. For me, it's incredible, because it's not normal for someone who is still so present to be an inspiration.
"It's usually done as homage to people who are no longer with us. It was very difficult to mix football and circus and the fact that they were inspired by me was surprising so it was a very nice feeling."
Other guests present on the night included his Barca teammates Luis Suarez, Ansu Fati and Abel Ruiz. Others could not attend as they were away on international duty.
Cirque du Soleil's show 'Messi 10' captures the life of Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi pic.twitter.com/CrrRGutei2
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 11, 2019
