5 greatest Lionel Messi performances in the UEFA Champions League

Modified Feb 17, 2020 03:05 GMT

Lionel Messi has enjoyed tremendous success in the UEFA Champions League

#3 Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona, 2011 Semi-finals

Real Madrid v Barcelona - UEFA Champions League Semi-Final

A list of greatest Messi performances in the UEFA Champions League cannot be complete without a mention of El Clasico. In the 2010-11 season, the two Spanish sides set up a fantastic semi-final clash and the world waited in anticipation for sparks to fly. And football fans were not disappointed.

The first leg was scheduled at the Santiago Bernabeu and it was marked by a bad-tempered first half, with the visitors only getting a few chances at goal. Messi was in the thick of things but stayed in the fringes of the Real Madrid defense, as the home team resorted to defensive tactics to frustrate the Catalans. Things got out of hands in the second half, as Pepe picked up a red card for a tackle on Dani Alves.

Jose Mourinho, the Real Madrid manager, also got his marching order for dissent and Los Blancos were suddenly at the point of breaking down. Messi saw this as an opportunity to pounce and stepped up to make the home side pay.

First, the Argentine got ahead of Sergio Ramos to turn in Ibrahim Afellay’s cross. It gave Barcelona a deserved lead as well as an away goal advantage. But Messi was just warming up and had saved the best for the last. In the dying minutes of the game, the Argentina international served up one of the best goals in the history of the Champions League.

Messi picked up the ball in the Real Madrid half and embarked on a 30-yard joyride, skipping past the opposition as if they were non-existent. It ended in his 11th goal in 11 games in the tournament and also capped one of his greatest performances in the Champions League

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written over 8500 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Samya Majumdar