"A bit like Cristiano Ronaldo when he first came to Manchester United" - Ex-Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher recalls facing Lionel Messi in 2007

Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher has recalled the time he faced Lionel Messi in 2007 in a recent interview with Football365.

The Reds took on Barcelona in the Round of 16 of the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League, giving Carragher his first opportunity to face up against the Argentine maestro.

Leo was only 19 but had already established himself as a regular starter for the defending UCL and La Liga champions and as a full-time Argentina international. Yet, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez did not centre his game plan around containing Messi. As Carragher recalls:

“We were aware of him, but – a bit like Ronaldo when he first came to United – he still wasn’t the star of the show. They had Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Deco... You knew this kid was special, but he was still young."

Liverpool stunned Barcelona 2-1 in the first leg at Camp Nou, with goals from Craig Bellamy (43') and John Arne Riise (74') canceling out Deco's (14') first-half goal.

In the return leg at Anfield, Barca only managed a 1-0 win, with the goal coming from Eidur Gudjohnsen in the 75th minute. The Catalans crashed out of the competition on the away goals rule. Liverpool went on to make it to the UCL final.

Messi wasn't really in the game throughout both legs and didn't come across as a generational talent, as Carragher recalls:

“People talked about him as if he was something special and there were videos of what he’d done in the Barcelona youth teams, so you were aware of him. But the best player of all time? I can’t say I thought that was going to happen from my experience playing against him.”

In a rematch of the iconic 2005 final against AC Milan, legendary Italian striker Filippo Inzaghi scored a brace to sink the Reds 2-1.

Lionel Messi dominated Real Madrid just days after UCL heartbreak against Jamie Carragher's Liverpool

Lionel Messi destroyed Real Madrid's defense just four days after Barcelona's heartbreaking loss to Jamie Carragher's Liverpool in the Champions League Round of 16.

The Argentine scored a hat-trick against the Catalans' fierce rivals to rescue a 3-3 draw. After Barca went down 1-0 in the fourth minute to a Ruud van Nistelrooy goal, Messi cut in from the right and slotted it calmly past legendary goalkeeper Iker Casillas (10').

Barca went down 2-1 just two minutes later, with van Nistelrooy haunting them once again. The Argentine took matters into his hands again, smashing in from close range in the 27th minute.

Real Madrid icon Sergio Ramos nodded his side back into the lead off a freekick from Guti in the 73rd minute. However, Messi had the last laugh, as he slid past two advancing defenders before lashing a shot across goal which made its way past Casillas.

Reflecting on the Argentine's incredible El Clasico performance, Carragher said:

"The players who end up being great players, they always have those moments like Messi’s hat-trick against Madrid... Maybe he didn’t do particularly well at Anfield, but the next game, he goes and gets a hat-trick against Real Madrid. That’s what the greats do. You see that and think, ‘This guy is going to be pretty special.’"