Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Joseph McBride

Top five Lionel Messi displays for Barcelona including famous Arsenal demolition

Lionel Messi is perhaps the greatest footballer to ever grace the sport, but tragically his time with FC Barcelona looks set to come to an end after 21 years at the club.

Financial difficulties at Barca mean that it has become almost impossible for the Argentine to re-sign for the club despite wanting to stay, and now the 34-year-old is reluctantly looking for a new challenge.

Messi made his debut for the Catalan side in October 2004, and went on to feature 776 times, scoring 672 goals and registering 266 assists throughout that time, and pretty much broke every record possible along the way.

The iconic no.10 had countless standout performances, but here are Messi's top five games in a Barcelona shirt ranked.

5. Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona

2010/11 Champions League Semi-Final First-Leg

Pep Guardiola (left) celebrates with Lionel Messi (right) after an iconic performance (AFP/Getty Images)

El Clasico was a huge part of Messi's career and is one of the most eye-catching fixtures worldwide every season.

Real Madrid and Barcelona lock head's every season in Spain, but when the two occasionally meet in the Champions League, the stakes are even higher.

With everything on the line, Messi produced one of the iconic Clasico performances, scoring a brace to stun Madrid at the Bernabeu in the first-leg of their Champions League semi-final clash.

Messi opened the scoring with just 14 minutes remaining after turning in Ibrahim Affelay's cross, but it was his second in the final moments of the game that lives long in the memory of football fans.

The then 22-year-old picked up the ball just inside the Real Madrid half, before blitzing past five opposition players and slotting the ball past Iker Casillas, as Barca took full control of the tie.

4. Real Madrid 2-3 Barcelona

2016/17 La Liga

Lionel Messi stunned the Bernabeu with a late goal (AFP/Getty Images)

Madrid and Barcelona were involved in a fascinating title race during the 2016/17 season and with six league games to go, El Clasico came around, and Barca simply had to win.

Going into the game, Madrid were six points ahead of their fierce rivals, and victory for Los Blancos would have surely guaranteed them another La Liga title.

However, when they needed him most, Messi stepped up and scored deep into injury time to give his side the victory and cut the lead to just three points with five games remaining.

The goal led to an iconic moment, as Messi removed his shirt and presented it to the Bernabeu fans, who he had silenced.

Unfortunately for Barcelona and Messi, this still wasn't enough, as both sides won their last five league games and Madrid pipped them to the title by just three points.

3. Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United

2010/11 Champions League Final

Barcelona beat Manchester United at Wembley in 2011 (GETTY)

Following Messi's tremendous performance in the semi-final as Barcelona knocked out rivals Real Madrid, a Wembley final was staged against Manchester United.

Messi's man-of-the-match performance inspired Barca to a 3-1 victory over United, who dominated the English side and completed the double, winning La Liga by four points as they haunted pipped Madrid in both competitions.

The final was level at the break after Wayne Rooney cancelled out Pedro's opener, but Messi put his side ahead after firing from 20-yards and his goal gave his side a major momentum boost, and David Villa added a third shortly after.

Messi went on to win the Ballon D'or that year.

Is Lionel Messi the greatest of all time? Comment below

2. Barcelona vs Bayern Munich

2014/15 Champions League Semi-Final First-Leg

Lionel Messi starred as Barcelona thrashed Bayern Munich (GETTY)

In 2015 the Camp Nou welcomed back Pep Guardiola, as the former Barcelona manager was now in charge of Bayern Munich after a short break away from football.

However, Guardiola was reminded just how good Messi was upon his return, as the Argentine terrorised the Bayern defence during a late onslaught, similar to his performance against Real Madrid at this stage four years prior.

The game was goalless going into the final 15 minutes, but a quick-fire Messi brace completely changed the complexion of the tie, before a late Neymar third stunned Bayern as they lost 3-0.

Barcelona had controlled the game, but Messi finally made the breakthrough with a powerful strike past Manuel Neuer, and his second is one that defender Jerome Boateng won't forget in a hurry.

Messi weaved through the Bayern penalty area, completely fooling Boateng before chipping Neuer, scoring one of the great Champions League goals.

1. Barcelona 4-1 Arsenal

2009/10 Champions League Quarter-Final Second Leg

Lionel Messi scored all four goals as Barcelona progressed to the Champions League semi-final (REUTERS)

Things were all going Arsenal's way during the semi-finals as they came back from a two-goal deficit to draw against Barcelona in the first leg, and Nicklas Bendtner's opener at the Camp Nou inside 20 minutes put the Gunners in full control.

However, Messi had other ideas.

The Argentine responded with four goals and surged Barcelona to a 6-3 aggregate score-line as they demolished Arsenal.

Messi became only the sixth player in Champions League history to achieve this, and picked up the Ballon D'or at the end of the season following a prolific campaign.

Barcelona were defeated by eventual winners Inter Milan in the semi-finals.

Get your hands on your club's special edition 2021/22 annual. Find out more here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.