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

#2 Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United, 2011 Final

Messi stunned Manchester United in the 2011 Champions League final

In the 2010-11 Champions League final, Barcelona were up against Manchester United, in a repeat of the 2008-09 final. The Red Devils were out for revenge, as the Catalans had previously won in Rome. Just like that fateful night, United started the game well, but were undone by the sheer brilliance of Messi.

It was Pedro who put the Blaugrana ahead in the game, only for Wayne Rooney to draw the Red Devils level. The first half ended 1-1, but after the break, Barcelona hit an overdrive, riding on an unplayable performance from their Argentinean maestro. Messi tortured and tormented the United defense right from the beginning of the second half and finally put his team ahead in the 54th minute.

The Red Devils had struggled to get close to him all night and were guilty of affording him too much time on the ball. The Argentine unleashed a powerful drive from 25 yards that surprised Edwin Van Der Saar in goal and restored Barcelona’s lead. Messi continued to threaten United with his pulsating runs, with the Dutch goalkeeper coming to his side’s rescue on a couple of occasions. However, he was powerless to stop David Villa, who added a late third that effectively ruled United out of the game.

Barcelona were the European Champions once again, but the night belonged to Messi, whose mesmerizing magic had undone Manchester United one more time.

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