With Lionel Messi no longer a Barcelona player, it’s time to check out the star’s five most memorable moments in his career at Camp Nou.
May 1, 2005, was when Lionel Messi’s journey to greatness began with the second goal in a 2-0 win over Albacete. Assisting him was none other than Ronaldinho, FC Barcelona’s star player at the time. Looking back 16 years later, it was almost as if the Brazilian passed the torch on at that very moment.
Messi has since become arguably the greatest player in Barcelona’s entire history. The stats say it all, with a club record of 672 goals and 305 assists in 778 matches at Camp Nou. 10 La Liga titles and eight top-scorer prizes in the league also came his way, including six Ballon d’Or awards. We’ll probably see nothing like it again.
So, in light of news that Messi won’t continue at Barcelona any longer, Ace Football checks out some of the best moments of his Blaugrana career.
5 goals against Bayer Leverkusen
Lionel Messi smashed the record books in March 2012 by scoring an insane five goals in the Champions League. The poor Leverkusen defense had no answer for the Argentine’s virtuoso display.
The World Player of the Year scored twice before the break and added three more goals in the second half. A brace from substitute Cristian Tello sealed an incredible 7-1 win. Thus, Barcelona won their last-16 tie with a 10-2 aggregate victory.
“What an incredible night,” said Leo after winning his sixth Ballon d’Or in December 2019.
“I’m not sure I could ever rank my goals over one another – I honestly don’t believe that any strike was prettier than the other.
“I was just delighted to get five and, more importantly, that the team won so convincingly. I didn’t realise at the time that I was the first player to score five goals in a Champions League game.
First Barcelona hat-trick
March 10, 2007, saw a 19-year-old Lionel Messi rescue FC Barcelona in a Clasico showdown by scoring his first hat-trick.
Real Madrid took the lead three times at Camp Nou and seemed poised for a spectacular victory. A teenage Messi, however, had other ideas. He had an answer for every goal Los Blancos scored, alerting the world to the superstar potential that laid inside him.
“It’s a beautiful feeling to get three goals against Real Madrid,” said the player.
“It’s always a fixture everybody in the world watches, and this was the first time I’d achieved it.
“To score a hat-trick was incredible and it was even more special because it came in a Clasico.”
Brilliant solo goal against Getafe
Barcelona supporters voted this one as the club’s greatest goal in history and for good reason.
In a Copa del Rey semi-final clash in 2007, Lionel Messi picked up the ball inside his own half and jinked past two players like nothing. He proceeded into the other half, dribbling with great pace and ball control. Not even a trio of opposition players could stop him.
The invincible Argentine later dribbled past the goalkeeper before putting the ball into the empty net. He was still just 19 years old at the time.
“For this goal against Getafe, I picked the ball up near the halfway line and found a lot of space between the defenders,” recalled Messi.
“When I received possession, I didn’t think of scoring. I just wanted the open spaces to continue appearing as I moved towards the penalty area.
“I kept finding them as I kept advancing, and I didn’t start thinking I might score until I actually took the shot.”
First Champions League title
The first of four Champions League titles came in May 2009, where Lionel Messi scored the second goal to seal a 2-0 win over Manchester United.
Despite a bright start from United, Samuel Eto’o poked the ball past Edwin van der Sar to put Barcelona ahead. Xavi later picked out Messi with a sublime cross in the second half, which the unmarked forward rose to head in from eight yards.
That goal was his first against English opposition.
“It was hard to imagine that I was going to score with my head with [Rio] Ferdinand standing near me, but I didn’t really have a marker – the ball came into the centre and I was there to meet it,” said Leo.
“In the moments that the ball was in the air from Xavi’s cross, I pictured scoring this goal and I thank God it happened.
“It was such an important goal in every sense: for the team, for the way the final was turning in our favour and for me, too. It’s still one of my favourite goals.”
500th Barcelona goal against Real Madrid
This has to be one of the sweetest moments of Lionel Messi’s entire career.
Real Madrid went out of their way to stop the Barcelona star, even leaving him with a bloodied nose. Losing Sergio Ramos, though, didn’t help matters. Especially with Messi in such breathtaking form.
The forward scored a superb individual effort after Casemiro’s opener. He then fired from the edge of the area to score a last-winner for Barcelona after James Rodriguez canceled out Ivan Rakitic’s goal.
“I scored two great goals against Real Madrid inside the Bernabeu, with the second coming in the last minute to win us the game,” Leo said on FourFourTwo.
“And then you have the fact it was my 500th goal for Barcelona, too!
“I couldn’t have asked for anything more. If I had not scored in that moment, we would have said goodbye to the league title there and then.
“It was a goal that gave us the drive to carry on fighting to try to win the league. We deserved to win this match and it was an emotional moment for all Barcelonistas.
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