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Lionel Andres Messi Cuccittini. A mesmeric footballer based on every parameter that could be used to judge him. There was a 16-year-old kid who stepped onto the pitch against Juventus who were then coached by Fabio Capello.
Such was the performance of the youngster that Capello asked Frank Rijkaard to loan him the player. Rijkaard's reaction to the question, a face that asked: "Are you mentally stable, Mr Capello?"
Spain standstill, the world watching, Real Madrid was on enemy territory against Barcelona. They led thrice in the game but cancelled out each and every time by a 19-year-old. "This is the game that is going to be remembered as the Lionel Messi match", said an ecstatic commentator.
Barcelona facing Chelsea in the biggest stage in Europe. An 18-year-old started in the game in the neon greens of Barcelona. Claude Makelele, John Terry, Asier Del Horno, all were grounded by the brilliance of the kid, who went on to hit the post in the game.
Messi this, Messi that, Magical, Magisterial, Mesmeric, everything we have been hearing for quite a long amount of time. When it comes to giving iconic football moments, this man is one of the best. Be it the 92nd-minute winner at Bernabeu with a black eye or a one-man show against Sevilla at Sanchez-Pizjuan, this man has done it all.
Lyon was given hope by Lucas Tousart's goal, they pressed forward in numbers but then this man decided that he had seen enough. He went on the dribble inside the box, feinted a shot, floored both Denayer and Marcelo, switched his foot and scored.
A piece of cake for him, 5 good touches is all it took. Then he came again, through the right half-space, dragging three defenders like a magnet, and then looping the ball across the box for Gerard Pique. If any other player does this, it is his game of the season, but for Lionel, it is just another day. It is normal.
Is Lionel Messi the GOAT without any arguments? We present you five performances of the diminutive Argentine in the Champions League which prove that he is the GOAT (Greatest of All-time):
#5 Barcelona vs Bayer Leverkusen, Round of 16, 2012
What was special about Lionel Messi's 2012? He broke Gerd Muller's record of most number of goals in a calendar year, which at that time was 86. Messi set the bar at 91 goals. In the Round of 16 of UEFA Champions League game, Bayer Leverkusen were the unlucky ones to draw Barcelona.
Lionel Messi scored not one, not two, neither three nor four, but five goals in the game. Five goals in a single game, a feat that not many have achieved in the game, and Messi did it in the UEFA Champions League. Perhaps one of the goals was a freebie for him as the keeper spilled the ball and Messi jumped in for the pieces, but every other goal was scored in superb fashion.
Messi chipped the keeper with his left foot to score the first one and with the right foot, with a defender pushing him wide of the goal, to score the third one. The second goal was profile Messi, cutting into the box, losing the man on his tail, dribbling right across three Leverkusen defenders and curling the ball in a small gap where neither the defenders nor the keeper was present.
The fifth goal that he scored was also a freebie for a player of his standards. With no defenders around and time with him, Messi had the easy task of finishing from outside the box.
A record that stands till day, the most number of goals in a single Champions League game.
#4 Barcelona vs Arsenal, UEFA Champions League Quarter Finals, 2010
On yet another night when Barcelona was trailing by a goal going into the second leg, a 22-year-old Lionel Messi gunned down the Gunners, all alone. A second leg at Camp Nou in which Arsenal would have been counting the minutes down to just go to the dressing room and sit down, without Messi lurking nearby.
The record for highest number of goals in a single game belongs to Lionel Messi along with legends like Gerd Muller, the second spot, also belongs to Lionel Messi, alongside modern greats, CR7, Robert Lewandowski and others. Manuel Almunia had no answers to the shots that Messi fired past him on the night.
Messi dribbled across Nasri and Denilson before losing control of the ball but Mikael Silvestre was a kind man to play a one-two pass with him, a mistake duly punished by the Argentine while flooring Vermaelen and Silvestre himself.
A lunging Almunia could do nothing to reach the ball. He went on to add another in quick time from a 1v1 chance. Then came the Lionel Messi's chip to get the third goal, over a helpless Almunia.
The fourth goal was another one to add to Lionel Messi's huge collection of defence destructions. He was played on by Bacary Sagna who recovered to act as a roadblock to him. Messi slid past Sagna with the ball trapped in his left foot and while his right foot acted as a body feint.
Vermaelen threw himself in front of the shot and went to ground. Although Almunia made the initial save, the follow up fell to Messi again, Vermaelen was up on his feet again and got his legs split in an attempt to stop the shot, while Almunia got nutmegged by the little man.
#3 Barcelona vs Bayern Munich, UEFA Champions League Semi-finals 2015
"I have a lot of respect for Messi and for everything that he has achieved. He is very humble, but it's crucial to show authority when we meet on the pitch and show him who's boss. I did the same in the World Cup final and this worked out pretty well."
Those are Manuel Neuer's exact words before the semi-final between Barcelona and Bayern Munich. What a great decision by Neuer to challenge Lionel Messi to a dogfight! That went well. Of all the years of watching Messi, we should know that this man does not talk trash but his feet humiliate people in the most disgusting ways as Neuer found out.
It didn't seem a problem until the 77th minute when Messi decided to give Neuer a chance to show that he was the actual boss. From just about 10 degrees wide of the near post, Messi shifted the ball to his left foot and blasted it at Neuer's near post, both Lahm and Bernat unable to even get a glimpse of the shot. Before we knew, the ball was past Manuel Neuer who slammed his defence in disgust.
Before Bayern could settle he came running at them again. Jerome Boateng stood in front of Messi in retreat and got his body turned inside out before biting the dust, by a simple shift of the ball to the right foot by Messi.
Manuel Neuer came to close down the angle and did but with his right foot, Messi unleashed his quintessential chip over the 6-foot tall man, and also the attempted clearance of Lahm, sending him to the cleaners as well.
"Here he is again... Here he is again... It's astonishing, that's absolutely world-class!! He's taken them apart" - The commentary during Messi's eventual UCL goal of the season
Neuer tried to show Messi who's the boss and learned the lesson the hard way, don't challenge Messi.
#2 Real Madrid vs Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Semifinals, 2011
The relationship between Barcelona and Real Madrid was terrible during Jose Mourinho's tenure at Real Madrid. We had a manager who hated his Barcelona counterpart, a player who was trying to prove that he is the undisputed best ahead of a certain Argentine, and Spanish teammates who were willing to kill each other for their crest.
The Los Blancos and the Blaugrana faced each other five times in a single season. Two of them were in the Champions League semis. The first leg had ended 1-1 and both the managers went to the press with some harsh words for the opposition, surprisingly even Pep Guardiola did it. Madrid shut Barcelona down in the first half despite clinical movements from Barcelona and persistence from Messi and David Villa.
Referee Wolfgang Stark had kept a cool head only until the players were leaving the pitch at halftime. The scuffles resulted in Pinto being shown a red card inside the tunnel. It was still 11v11, but Pepe and Dani Alves' engaged in a war before Wolfgang Stark stepped in and produced a red card for Pepe.
Where was Messi? Up until then, he was constantly teasing the defence of Madrid and got floored a lot of times by Pepe and Ramos. Every time he went down, Ramos dragged him up forcibly to get on with proceedings.
In minute 76, he made them pay for the ill-tempered and no-nonsense physical gameplay. A pass across to Ibrahim Affelay in the right-wing and Messi took a page out of Ronaldo's playbook and went inside the box. He got to Affelay's cross before Sergio Ramos' lunging challenge, avoided the challenge and coolly finished past Iker Casillas.
Messi was not done at the Bernabeu though and added more insult to the Los Blancos with a touch of perfection. He dribbled from the halfway line to the goal past Lass Diarra, Xabi Alonso, Marcelo, and Sergio Ramos while finishing it off against Iker Casillas. A solo goal which is till date one of the best Champions League goals ever scored.
Peter Drury's commentary is still music to the ears.
"Messi... away from two, three, four... Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful. How good is he? He has wriggled and tiptoed his way to the gates of Wembley Stadium. The best in the world bar none."
The most iconic semifinal performance in the Champions League.
#1 FC Barcelona vs Manchester United, UEFA Champions League Final, 2011
The best Champions League finals performance ever. Lionel Messi's reputation at 23 was a warning to the Red Devils, but they were no underdogs. Players like Rooney, Giggs, Carrick were all in great shape at that time. But they were no match to the utter brilliance of the Barcelona midfield of Xavi and Iniesta combining with the false 9 Lionel Messi.
To get the first goal, Messi dragged Patrice Evra with him, leaving too much space for Xavi to pick out an unmarked Pedro, who finished without fuss. After a great first half but yet the scoreline on level terms, Barcelona went into the dressing room to seal the deal in the second half. Lionel Messi's attacking grew more and more as the game progressed and he didn't take long to swing his left foot in the second half.
Off a simple pass from Iniesta, he dribbled towards goal away from Ji-Sung Park, the defensive back four held their shape and that was enough for Leo to strike. He dispatched the ball with his left foot before Evra could challenge him, past Van Der Sar's outstretched hand and ran off in delight to celebrate with the fans.
Then he danced around Nani from the right wing, tiptoed into the box in front of Evra and Ferdinand before the ball somehow got to Pedro. Pedro passed to Villa and El Guage sealed the deal for Barcelona at Wembley. Messi went down on both knees to celebrate Villa's goal.
The UEFA Man of the Match and the Fans' Man of the Match for his performance in the best ever Champions League Final.
No answers from the United defence and if you still ask Ferdinand and Carrick about that night, they would refuse to revisit the horror show that was played inside the Wembley cauldron by Messi.
