5 players who outperformed Lionel Messi on the grandest stages

#3 Gareth Bale: Real Madrid 2-1 Barcelona (16-04-2014)

The Welshman stole the shine from Lionel Messi at the Mestella Stadium

The 2014 Copa Del Rey final was a historic one as it featured two bitter rivals, Real Madrid and Barcelona. As expected, all the attention was on Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo but it ended up producing a different hero - Gareth Bale.

The Welshman made his first impact of the game by having his hand in Real Madrid's opening goal at the 10th minute mark. He received the ball from Isco and sent a beautiful pass to Karim Benzema. The Frenchman tipped the ball to Angel Di Maria who finished off brilliantly.

5 years ago today, Gareth Bale scored this outrageous solo goal against Barca in the Copa del Rey final. We’re tired just watching this. pic.twitter.com/w8t20Gtpni

— FourFourTwo (@FourFourTwo) April 16, 2019

With about 30 minutes left, Marc Batra equalized for Barcelona and it looked like the game would head into extra time but Gareth Bale happened again. The Welshman stepped up in the 84th minute to score one of the most iconic goals of his career. He received the ball around the halfway line, tipped it forward and outran Marc Batra before beating Pinto with a cool finish to secure the trophy for Los Blancos.

#2 Divock Origi: Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona (07-05-2019)

Origi became Liverpoo's unlikely hero, outshining Lionel Messi in one of the biggest comebacks in history

Lionel Messi got the football world on its feet with a spectacular performance for Barcelona against Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash in 2019. The attacker dominated the headlines with his return of two goals and one assist in the Blaugrana's 3-0 victory at Camp Nou.

However, it was Divock Origi who eventually had the last laugh when the two sides met again for the reverse fixture at Anfield just a week later. Deployed as a surprise option in Liverpool's attack, the Belgian became a hero overnight, thanks to his decisive display in front of goal.

GOAL! Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona. Divock Origi nets after a brilliant corner from Alexander-Arnold! #LIVBAR #UCL pic.twitter.com/9FutagRXLZ

— Goal (@goal) May 7, 2019

Origi launched a massive revival move at Anfield by opening the scoring in just seven minutes. Georginio Wijnaldum struck twice to level the tie at 3-3 as both sides struggled to find the decisive goal. Up stepped Origi again with a perfect shot from a clever Trent Alexandre-Arnold corner kick to hand Lionel Messi and co another capitulation in the European tournament.

#1 Kylian Mbappe: Barcelona 1-4 Paris Saint-Germain (16-02-2021)

Mbappe proved to be too difficult to handle for Lionel Messi and co

This is the most recent account on the list. Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe also stole the shine from Lionel Messi when the two players clashed in the first leg of Barcelona and PSG's Champions League round of 16 clash earlier this year.

The Frenchman was a huge problem for the Catalan giants throughout the game, with his incredible pace and sharp dribbling skills proving too much for the opposition defense to handle.

Mbappe scored an amazing hat-trick to demolish Barca in front of their own fans, becoming one of the very few players to subject the Blaugrana to such a humiliation at their home ground.