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It usually takes more than one man to stop Lionel Messi, but these defenders worked in tandem to help prevent one of the greatest players in the world from scoring. There is not much you can do when his feet are like a magnet that attracts the ball.
You either have to be lucky for him to have an off day, or have a good one yourself. These players/teams managed to do one of the two on at least one occasion. Messi would himself look back at these games and probably feel like he could not have done anything more either.
While this may not be an exhaustive list, here are five instances when players managed to contain the little magician for club and country.
5. Bastian Schweinsteiger - Argentina 0-4 Germany, 2010 World Cup
Lionel Messi has always had to carry the burden of not having been successful in international tournaments. The fans have always had complaints about the difference in his performances when playing for club and country.
Although that argument is very flawed, on this particular occasion, Messi was nowhere near his best. But that was because of the organization of the German midfield and defence. Bastian Schweinsteiger was tasked with marking the little magician, but he had help from Per Mertesacker and Jerome Boateng.
While Die Mannschaft were relentless in attack, making it almost impossible for Argentina to get a foothold in the game, it was ultimately the reverse when the South American giants were in possession.
Messi was forced to push back to try and receive the ball, as the Germans limited his impact higher up the field. The lack of penetration was very evident on the day, and Messi was reduced to tears at the end of the game.
Diego Maradona was the man in charge of that team in that World Cup, and he resigned right after Argentina's elimination.
4. Jose Bosingwa - Barcelona 0-0 Chelsea, UEFA Champions League 2009
Jose Bosingwa might not be one of the most world-renowned defenders in Chelsea's history, but he played like one on a night when it mattered the most for the Blues. The trio of Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi were one of the most feared in the world that year.
In fact, until the visit of the London club, no team had managed to prevent Barcelona from scoring at the Camp Nou that season. Chelsea were the first team to do so, and it was Bosingwa's job to limit the Argentinian on the night.
He managed to do that job pretty well. Messi only had a few chances to shoot, and most of them were snuffed out by the centre backs. He matched him for pace and did not give him an inch for most of the game.
It was an excellent overall display from the team, and Barcelona failed to break through despite their strength in attack. Unfortunately for the Blues, they lost the tie on away goals, after a dramatic equalizer from Andres Iniesta in the dying minutes of the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
3. Adrien Rabiot - PSG 4-0 Barcelona, UEFA Champions League 2017
We fast forward to eight years from that tie against Chelsea and Barcelona have an even stronger front three. The trio of Neymar Jr, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi would strike fear into any team, but PSG had a plan to stop them and executed it to perfection.
In arguably Messi's worst performance in a Barcelona shirt, the French giants ran riot against the Catalans. Barcelona's tactics were all wrong and PSG knew how to hit them where it hurts.
They tried to play out from the back, but ended up gifting possession back to PSG. So when plan A didn't work, they turned to plan B – Lionel Messi. He was once again forced to try and drop as deep as possible to influence proceedings.
Unfortunately, Adrien Rabiot was on hand to stop him every time. He stuck to the dribbler like glue with the help of Verratti, who was the interceptor of his passes. Messi could not find the angles he usually does with ease and it was a case of blocking out his vision completely.
The defenders did a job on him in the first half, but given he hardly had any service to begin with, Messi had to try and be the creator as well. However, Rabiot and Verratti saw to that and blocked any kind of dribble or forward pass channel for Messi to exploit.
2. Diego Godin - Atletico Madrid 2-0 Barcelona, UEFA Champions League 2016
Diego Godin is the probably the defender no attacker ever wants to go up against. Cristiano Ronaldo also despises, him having been stopped several times by the Uruguayan in his time at Real Madrid.
Lionel Messi has managed to get the better of Godin on more than one occasion, but he has not had much luck when he's come up against the Atletico defender in the Champions League.
Twice in the last decade, Barcelona have been knocked out by their Spanish rivals. On both occasions, it was a stern defensive display that made it almost impossible for the Blaugrana to get a positive result against them.
Godin has faced Messi several times in the past, but his performance in the UEFA Champions League in 2016 was one of his best ever. The Argentine was contained thanks to the Uruguayan's brilliant on-pitch coordination and leadership.
Atletico ensured that Messi did not manage a shot on target. Something that highlighted the brilliance of that team was the fact that he did not have a single touch inside the Atletico box all game, a startling example of their rock-solid defence.
Safe to say Barcelona will be hoping they don't face Atleti in Europe in the coming season, as their record against Los Rojiblancos does not make for good reading.
1. Esteban Cambiasso/Javier Zanetti - Barcelona 1-0 Inter Milan, UEFA Champions League 2010
One of the most iconic moments in UEFA Champions League history was Jose Mourinho's extravagant celebration when his Inter Milan side defeated Barcelona in the semi-finals of the competition ten years ago.
A game which was extremely competitive and heated resulted in a narrow 1-0 victory for Barcelona, but the La Liga giants suffered an aggregate loss of 2-3 after the second leg. Inter went down to ten men in the 28th minute, as Thiago Motta was sent off for a foul on Sergio Busquets.
The famous incident led to Motta later grabbing Busquets by the neck just before he walked off the pitch. Inter were forced to defend against the Catalans for over an hour with only ten men.
Despite the circumstances, it was arguably one of the best defensive displays in the modern era of football. Messi did have his chances to score, but even with ten men, he seemed to struggle to find a way through.
Cambiasso and Zanetti ganged up on him to prevent him from causing too much havoc, and they did quite an excellent job of it. The then 21-year-old found it difficult to get a shot on goal and struggled to make an impression on the night.
Apart from one attempt that Julio Cesar had to save at full-stretch, he was largely untroubled. Barcelona were dumped out of the competition, and Mourinho got his revenge on Barcelona and Pep Guardiola.
