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Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest footballer of all time. He has won football's most prestigious individual prize, the Ballon d'Or, a record seven times. The Argentinian international has had an extremely illustrious career and is still going strong at the age of 34.
Until the summer of 2021, Lionel Messi had played for just a single club. He was a Barcelona lad through and through and is inarguably the greatest player ever to have turned out for the Catalans. For a club that has housed some of the greatest players of all time, that is saying something.
Lionel Messi has always played alongside the best in the business
Messi has had the chance to play with some of the best footballers of his generation for both club and country. He has also formed wonderful partnerships with other forwards and midfielders.
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Without any further ado, let's take a look at the five players that Messi has combined with for the most goals (club + country).
#5 Dani Alves - 48 goals
Oh man, just how good were Dani Alves and Lionel Messi down the right flank for Barcelona during their heydey? Alves is considered one of the greatest full-backs of all time. The Brazilian is a joy to watch and is one of the most technically gifted players of the modern era.
He shared a telepathic understanding with Messi. The two would combine for little give-and-gos and run rings around the opposition. Messi and Alves always looked like they could foresee what each other were going to do.
It helped Barcelona immensely as they dominated European football in the late 2000s and the first half of the 2010s. Alves and Messi have combined to score 48 goals. The two are great friends. In a 2018 interview, Alves said:
"We worked on that bond. We were getting along better and better. We understood how the other was playing, when and how to play."
#4 Andres Iniesta - 53 goals
Together, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta were pure magic on the football ground. They are two of the most technically proficient and naturally gifted footballers on the planet and the two have won a ridiculous number of titles together.
Iniesta could weave his way past the tightest cul-de-sac, upend entire defences with one drop of the shoulder and deliver passes others couldn't even conceive. Iniesta and Messi won the continental treble twice with Barcelona, first in 2008-09 and then in 2014-15.
The duo of Messi and Iniesta combined to score 53 goals in their time together at Barcelona.
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#3 Pedro - 54 goals
Pedro is one of the those players who doesn't really get the credit he deserves. He is one of those players who always got overshadowed by the superstars who came and went but had every right to be sitting among them.
Pedro joined the Barcelona youth side aged 17 and went on to make 321 appearances, scoring 99 goals and providing 62 assists.
The constant inflow of high-profile stars like Alexis Sanchez and Neymar Jr. stopped Pedro from establishing himself as a regular starter for an extended period of time. But whenever he did feature, he oozed class and quality.
Pedro was an aggressive and direct attacker who loved taking defenders on and beating them. He combined with Messi to score a total of 54 goals for Barcelona.
#2 Neymar Jr. - 56 goals
Neymar Jr. joined Barcelona from Santos in 2013. He was the biggest talent to have come out of Brazil since the Ronaldos and Ronaldinhos and was tipped to succeed massively at the Camp Nou. He struggled to find his groove in the beginning but once he hit his stride, there was no stopping the Brazilian.
Neymar has always been an absolute joy to watch on the football pitch, combining his street smarts with an array of tricks to wonderful effect. With Messi and Neymar operating in the final third, opposition defenders couldn't afford to switch off for a second.
Neymar and Messi have made careers out of bamboozling opponents and they were ruthless as they brought Barcelona back to the very top of European football. Neymar left Barcelona for PSG in 2017 and football fans were distraught about the fact that they wouldn't be able to see him and Messi play together.
However, the duo have since reunited at PSG after Messi made the switch last summer. Neymar and Messi have combined to score 56 goals so far.
#1 Luis Suarez - 99 goals
Neymar Jr. and Lionel Messi were already wreaking havoc for Barcelona when they decided to rope in a certain Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan international had just had a phenomenal season with Liverpool, where he scored 31 goals and provided 17 assists in 33 Premier League appearances.
Predictably, Suarez fit right in with Messi and Neymar. The trio would go onto eviscerate opponents and win the continental treble together in the 2014-15 season.
Suarez is one of the greatest strikers of his generation. Alongside Messi and Neymar, he formed the famed MSN trio, which is considered one of the greatest attacking units in the history of the beautiful game.
Suarez and Messi played together at Barcelona until the end of the 2019-20 season, combining to score 99 goals.
