5 best performances by Lionel Messi in the Champions League
Lionel Messi has delivered some of the greatest performances by any player in the Champions League.
With over 100 goals to his name in the Champions League, Lionel Messi has broken numerous records and set incredible milestones in the competition since his European debut in 2004.
Lionel Messi's five best performances in the Champions League:
Ahead of his much-awaited reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo in a key game between Barcelona and Juventus, let's run through five of Lionel Messi's best games in the Champions League:
Honourable mentions:
Lionel Messi's hat-trick in Barcelona's 4-0 win against Manchester City (September 2016), his brace in Barcelona's 4-0 victory over AC Milan (March 2013) and the Argentinian's double in Barcelona's 3-0 triumph against Chelsea (March 2018).
#5 Barcelona 7-1 Bayer Leverkusen (March 2012)
During the 2011-12 season, when he scored a freakish 73 goals in all competitions, Lionel Messi broke numerous records along the way, including becoming the first player to score five in a Champions League game.
Bayer Leverkusen were the hapless victims on that fateful night in Camp Nou, as the mercurial Argentine cut a swathe through the Bundesliga side to register one of the greatest performances of his career.
To put Lionel Messi's achievement into perspective, only one player has matched that feat since then (Luiz Adriano against BATE Borisov in October 2014). Yet, this Lionel Messi performance is only fifth in this list. Read on to find out why.
#4 Barcelona 4-1 Arsenal (April 2010)
Almost two years before the Leverkusen shellacking, Lionel Messi had taken Arsenal to the cleaners in a similarly brilliant individual performance, bagging all four goals in Barcelona's 4-1 win against the Premier League outfit.
With all to play for at the Camp Nou after a 2-2 draw in the first leg, Nicklas Bendtner gave the Gunners a shock lead in the 18th minute. However, that only served to spur the Barcelona star into action.
Lionel Messi responded with a clinical hat-trick before the half-time whistle, one that included an outrageous chip over Manuel Almunia.
Lionel Messi wasn't done for the night, though. He added a fourth after a break with a spectacular solo goal to put the final nail in the Gunners' coffin.