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Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the best players in the history of the UEFA Champions League, and the game in general.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner has won the competition four times, two of them as part of continental trebles. He is one of only two players, Cristiano Ronaldo being the other, to score over 100 goals and eight hat-tricks in the Champions League.
The PSG attacker recently made more history in the competition by joining Ronaldo as the only player to score against 38 different teams.
Over the years, the Copa America 2021 winner has enjoyed scoring against certain teams more than he has against others. On that note, here's a look at Messi's 10 most favourite opponents in the Champions League in terms of goals scored:
#10 Manchester United - 4 goals
Lionel Messi was determined to make amends after drawing blanks against Manchester United in the 2007-08 Champions League semi-finals.
Only a year later, he scored one of the most memorable goals of his career against United. That strike, a rare headed goal from the diminutive Argentinian, came in the 2009 final after Samuel Eto'o had given the Blaugrana an early lead.
Latching onto a delightful cross from Xavi, Messi seemingly hung in the air for a while before heading the ball past a stunned Edwin van der Saar. Barcelona beat the holders 2-0 on the night to become the first Spanish team to win the continental treble.
Two years later, Messi was at it again, scoring in Barcelona's 3-1 win against the same opponents in the 2011 Champions League final. Eight years later, Messi scored a brace as Barcelona beat United 4-0 on aggregate to reach the 2019 semis.
#9 Bayern Munich - 4 goals
Lionel Messi scored a brace in his first meeting with Bayern Munich. That came in the first leg of the 2008-09 Champions League quarter-finals. He drew a blank in the away leg, but Barcelona went on to win the competition that year.
Messi drew another blank two years later as Bayern Munich humbled Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate in the 2012-13 semis en route to winning the title. However, things were different when the Argentinian met the Bavarian giants at the same stage of the competition two years later.
The 34-year-old scored a brace in the first leg as Barcelona won 5-3 on aggregate to win the competition. Interestingly, both times Messi scored against Bayern, his team won the Champions League.
Five years later, though, Messi was a pale shadow of his illustrious self. Bayern beat Barcelona 8-2 in a single-legged 2019-20 Champions League quarter-final.
#8 Olympique Lyon - 5 goals
Lionel Messi has scored in all but one of his five Champions League games against Ligue 1 heavyweight Olympique Lyon.
He scored in both group games against the French team in the 2007-08 group stage. A year later, Messi scored in the Round of 16 second leg at home as Barcelona won 6-3 on aggregate.
Almost 10 years later, Lyon still didn't have the answers against Messi. He scored a brace and also bagged as many assists as the Blaugrana won 5-1 on the night and on aggregate to reach the 2018-19 quarter-finals.
Barcelona went on to lose against Liverpool in the semi-finals that year.
#7 PSG - 6 goals
Lionel Messi has scored six times against his current club Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Messi scored in his first meeting with the Ligue 1 giants in the first leg of the 2012-13 quarter-finals. Four years later, he scored twice in four games against PSG - both times in the group stage and none in the quarter-finals.
In 2016-17, Messi was one of the scorers as Barcelona overhauled a 4-0 first-leg deficit to win 6-1 on the night to reach the last eight.
Four years later, he scored in both legs of Barcelona's 5-2 aggregate defeat to PSG in the Round of 16.
#6 Ajax - 6 goals
Lionel Messi loves scoring against Ajax. Period. The Argentine has scored at least once in each of his three meetings against the Eredivisie giants in the Champions League.
In his first meeting against the three-time winners in a 2013-14 group game, Messi scored a hat-trick at Camp Nou. A year later, he scored in both group games, one strike at Camp Nou and a brace in Amsterdam.
That season, Barcelona went on to win their second continental treble and fifth Champions League.
#5 Manchester City - 7 goals
Manchester City are one of five teams against whom Lionel Messi has scored at least seven Champions League goals.
In his first meeting with the Premier League giants in 2013-14, the Argentinian scored in both legs of Barcelona's 4-1 Round of 16 win. A year later, he drew blanks at the same stage of the competition against the same opponents. However, Blaugrana went through 3-1 on aggregate.
Only a few months later, Messi scored a hat-trick as Barcelona beat City 4-0 in a group game. He also scored in the reverse fixture, which Blaugrana lost 3-1 at the Etihad.
Five years later, the PSG attacker opened his account for his new side by scoring for the seventh time against Manchester City.
#4 Bayer Leverkusen - 7 goals
Lionel Messi scored in his first game against Bayer Leverkusen in 2011-12, which Barcelona won 3-1 to lead their Round of 16 tie. A few days later against the same opponent, Messi created history in the competition.
The Argentinian became the first player in Champions League history to score five goals in a game. Barcelona won 7-1 on the night and 10-2 on aggregate.
Three years later, Messi was at it again, scoring in Barcelona's 1-1 draw in a group game in 2015-16.
#3 AC Milan - 8 goals
Lionel Messi loves scoring against AC Milan in the Champions League. The Argentinian has netted eight times in eight games in the competition against the Rossoneri.
Messi met Milan four times in the 2011-12 season, scoring once in the group stage and twice in the quarter-final second leg. A year later, he scored twice against them in the deciding leg of the Round of 16. Barcelona won 4-0 after trailing 2-0 from the first leg.
Only a year later, the Argentinian netted thrice in two group games against Milan in the 2013-14 Champions League group stage.
#2 Celtic - 8 goals
Lionel Messi has played only six times against Celtic in the Champions League, but has scored eight goals against them.
He scored a brace in his first game against the Scottish giants in the first leg of the Round of 16, which Barcelona won 3-2 away from home. Five years later, Messi scored against Celtic in Glasgow again, albeit in a losing cause (2-1) in a group game.
In 2016-17, the 34-year-old scored a hat-trick in Barcelona's 7-0 win in a group game. It was Celtic's heaviest defeat in Europe.
A few weeks later, he scored a brace in the reverse fixture in Glasgow.
#1 Arsenal - 9 goals
Lionel Messi has scored nine goals against Arsenal in the Champions League. That's the most any player has scored against a single opponent in the competition after Ronaldo's ten against Juventus.
Messi drew a blank in his first meeting with the English team in the 2008-09 quarter-final first leg, which Barcelona drew 2-2 away from home. However, the Argentinian more than made up for that with a sumptuous quadruple in the return leg.
A year later, Messi scored a brace as Barcelona beat Arsenal 3-1 in the Round of 16 second leg to win 4-3 on aggregate.
In 2015-16, Messi scored thrice across both legs against the same opponents at the same stage of the competition. Barcelona won 5-1 on aggregate.
