5 times Lionel Messi gave his penalty to teammates

#3 Lionel Messi gives Zlatan the penalty against Real Zaragoza

Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thierry Henry

Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrived to join Lionel Messi in Barcelona's attack amid huge fanfare. The Catalans had just won the treble in the season prior and Zlatan had enjoyed a prolific spell with AC Milan. However, the Swede did not last very long at Barcelona owing to a number of reasons, including having constant run-ins with Pep Guardiola and being played out of position.

Zlatan's struggles were exemplified in Barcelona's trip to take on Real Zaragoza in March 2010. Zlatan and Messi started out as forwards and the latter was in sublime form and scored a brilliant hat-trick while the Swede kept missing chance after chance.

Real Zaragoza were clawing their way back into the game after scoring two goals in the second half. However, Barcelona won a penalty while the home side were desperately looking for an equalizer.

Lionel Messi was the obvious choice to take the spot-kick. But he chose to hand the ball to Zlatan Ibrahimovic who had endured a tough night. Given the night that he had had, many wouldn't have trusted him to score from the spot but Messi did.

Zlatan converted from the spot to add cushion to Barcelona's lead and it proved how much of a team player Messi is.

On this day in 2010, Lionel Messi scored three times for Barcelona and won a penalty which he gave to Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 90th minute in Barcelona's 4-2 win vs. Real Zaragoza. pic.twitter.com/YVKs1D1XZn

— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) March 21, 2021

#2 Lionel Messi gives up hat-trick and gives penalty to Luis Suarez vs Huesca

Lionel Messi let Luis Suarez take a last-minute penalty tonight despite being on a hat-trick. Team player 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/QpEkKoQhtE

— FUN88 (@fun88eng) September 2, 2018

Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez enjoyed a great bond and it came as no surprise when the former expressed his disgust at how his friend was shown the exit door at the club after last season. The Argentinian and the Uruguayan shared extraordinary chemistry on the pitch and Barcelona have benefitted greatly from it.

In the 2018-19 season, Barcelona thumped newcomers SD Huesca 8-2. Even though Suarez had got on the scoresheet, he had been running low on confidence. In the dying embers of the game with the result beyond doubt, Suarez won a penalty.

Messi could have sealed his 31st career hat-trick but he chose to give the ball to Luis Suarez because his strike-partner simply needed it more.

#1 Lionel Messi gives penalty to Neymar vs Cordoba

Cordoba CF v Barcelona FC - La Liga

In the 2014-15 season when Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were playing at the peak of their powers, there was no predicting who was going to win the Pichichi trophy awarded to the top goalscorer in a La Liga season.

In May, Barcelona took on Cordoba and Lionel Messi bagged a brace to land on 40 goals while Cristiano Ronaldo was on 39.

Barcelona registered a resounding 8-0 win over Cordoba and Messi could have completed his hat-trick and pulled away in the race for the Pichichi but he chose to give the ball to Neymar who was not having a great day till then.

Recounting the incident, Neymar said:

"It's a detail I will never forget. He could have scored a hat-trick, but he left the penalty to me. It left me without words. I learn a lot from him, both on and off the pitch."

Neymar: I'll never forget Messi for giving me Cordoba penalty http://t.co/9FlEte2c7C

— Goal (@goal) May 7, 2015