Messi's Former Doctor Opens Up on the Health Problems That Once Held Him Back

The Italian doctor who treated Lionel Messi for the vomiting and muscle problems that plagued his Barcelona years has given a rare interview about their secret sessions in northern Italy.

A privilege within reach of very few

Treating Lionel Messi is a privilege within the reach of very few doctors. One of them, Italian sports physician Giuliano Poser, has spoken in an interview about his experience with the Argentine during the years when vomiting and muscle problems prevented the world's best player from being at 100 percent.

Poser, based in Sacile in northern Italy, worked with Messi for years while he was at Barcelona, in sessions kept entirely out of the public eye. Speaking to the BetBrothers website, he described a relationship built on discretion and trust — and a patient who kept returning because the work was delivering results.

"For a few years, Lionel came and worked with me systematically," Poser said. "We arranged times for him to arrive when no one could recognize him, to preserve his privacy. He came very regularly and our work together went very well. We are still friends."

How Maradona's first agent made the introduction

Messi's route to Sacile came through football royalty. Poser revealed that it was Jorge Cyterszpiler — Diego Maradona's first agent — together with a Lionel Messi teammate on the Argentina national team whose name Poser chose not to disclose, who convinced the forward to make the trip.

"I knew Jorge Cyterszpiler, who was Diego Maradona's first agent," Poser said. "Cyterszpiler, who is no longer with us, and a Lionel Messi teammate on the Argentine national team whose name I am not going to reveal, convinced Messi to come here to see me in Sacile, in northern Italy."

The connection was not a one-off consultation. Messi's compatriot Martín Demichelis, who also sought Poser's help, had already recommended the doctor, and by 2015 the Argentine was reportedly making regular visits — with the Italian physician declining at the time to reveal the full nature of the treatment for professional reasons.

The vomiting problem that alarmed the world

The issue that brought Messi to Sacile was impossible to hide on the pitch. He vomited repeatedly during matches, causing alarm — most memorably when he was sick during an Argentina friendly against Romania in Bucharest in 2014, after which he confessed it "happened all the time."

He had been sick the year before in a World Cup qualifier against Bolivia in the high altitude of La Paz, and his then-international coach Alejandro Sabella publicly blamed the episodes on nerves. But the problem persisted through his peak Barcelona years, and for a player of Messi's importance it was a genuine concern.

Messi himself later offered a disarmingly simple explanation: his diet. "I don't know what I ate but I ate badly for many years," he admitted in an interview. "At 22, 23... chocolate, alfajores, fizzy drinks. Now I eat well: fish, meat, vegetables, salads. Everything is organised and taken care of." He added that the change made a real difference: "I really noticed the change when it came to vomiting."

A generous patient with an enormous heart

Perhaps the most revealing part of Poser's interview concerns not medicine but character. The doctor said Messi rarely arrived alone — and insisted that the people with him be seen first.

"Every time he came he brought with him friends, teammates, acquaintances, and family members," Poser explained. "Before his treatment, he would ask me to see them first, while he acted as their interpreter. He has an enormous heart. He is a genuinely generous person, always willing to help others."

Communication was never a barrier: Poser does not speak Spanish, but Messi understood Italian well and the doctor understood Spanish. "I have to say that he is a truly good and exceptional person, who genuinely cares about the people around him," he said. "Like so many of these Argentine footballers, he reached the very top because he had tremendous desire and ambition."

The secret of playing beyond 40

Poser also addressed one of football's most debated topics: how players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modrić and Messi himself keep performing at the highest level deep into their careers. His verdict was unsentimental — it is the accumulated effect of decades of professional care, discipline and attention to the body.

Messi, now 39, is living proof of that thesis. He remains Inter Miami's driving force in Major League Soccer and is the frontrunner for a third consecutive MLS MVP award, even as he prepares to close his international career against Benin on 6 October. The health problems that once threatened to interrupt his prime are a distant memory; the career they nearly disrupted became the greatest of all time.

The story is a reminder of how thin the margins are at the very top. For several years, one of the most gifted footballers ever produced was dealing with an issue that followed him onto the pitch in front of millions. The fix — better food, organised routines, professional care — sounds almost mundane. But Poser's account suggests the real change was Messi's willingness to commit to it, year after year.

Still friends, still grateful

What endures from the Sacile years, above all, is the relationship. Poser was invited to visit Barcelona and Buenos Aires through his links with Argentine football, and he maintains close ties with many in the game — including Gerardo Martino, the former Argentina and Barcelona coach.

For Messi, the episode is part of a broader story of a player who has always taken his body seriously once he understood what it needed. The vomiting that once worried millions is long gone; the discipline that replaced it — in diet, recovery and professional care — is one reason he is still the centre of attention days before his final match in an Argentina shirt.

Poser's interview also offers a glimpse of the ecosystem behind the trophies: the anonymous specialists, the quiet trips to northern Italy, the agents working in the background. Messi's career is remembered in goals and medals, but it was built on decisions like this one — to take a teammate's advice, drive to Sacile, and keep coming back until the problem was solved.

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