That day, Joan Monfort left home convinced he was simply going to do a photo shoot for the charity calendar promoted by Sport together with Barcelona and UNICEF. No one, not even him, could have imagined that one of those shots would become one of the most famous and viral images in the history of modern football.
"For me, it was just another calendar. The goal was to have fun and let the kids have fun together with the champions," the Catalan photographer tells us, who in recent days has received "more than 200 interview requests".
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In front of his lens, at a certain point, a just-20-year-old Lionel Messi also appeared, still far from becoming the greatest player of his era and, for many, of all time.
"Everyone was already saying that this kid would become amazing, but there's a huge gap between being a great talent and becoming what he became. Today, he's reached a truly extraordinary level. If Lamine Yamal gives us even half of what Messi has given us, that will already be a lot."
And the truth is that that improvised bath started with a touch of embarrassment: "I remember his expression perfectly... It was the look of someone thinking, 'Oh my, I really don't know how to hold a newborn'."
Then the chemistry of a moment destined to go down in history did the rest and, 19 years later, that future superstar and that cheerful baby will meet again, face to face - not in front of the lens of an unsuspecting photographer, but before the eyes of the whole world.
"It's truly incredible to think that they met when one was three months old and the other 20, and now they'll see each other again on the most beautiful and important stage for a footballer."
For Monfort - and, in fact, for no one - there is no logical explanation for everything that happened after his shot: "There are so many coincidences that it's impossible to find a rational explanation. Maybe it's all already written.
"We don't know by whom or where, but it's really hard to explain how those two ended up together in a photo twenty years ago, when one was a newborn and the other just a promising youngster. Call it a miracle, astral coincidence, or whatever you want."
A truly unrepeatable shot, just like its virality. Since Lamine Yamal's father posted that photo on his social media two years ago, its spread has been unprecedented: "There are iconic images, like that of Muhammad Ali standing over his opponent on the canvas, but back then there were no social networks.
"This photo has truly been seen by almost the entire world. Anyone who hadn't discovered it during Euro 2024 has seen it now."
After the image went viral again, Monfort also had the chance to talk about it with Lamine Yamal: "Talking about it again with Lamine, I realised that the photo really made him happy. After all, not everyone gets to have a photo of Messi giving you a bath as a newborn..."
No, it's true, not everyone gets that. And it's even rarer for a photo to be a premonition, almost a prophecy: "I'm really happy." As will be, tonight, only one of the two protagonists of his immortal photograph. The other, instead, will head quietly to the showers and, probably, think back to that bath 19 years ago.