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When it comes to dispatching the ball into the net, few players can claim to be as eagle-eyed as Lionel Messi. Once his piercing gaze meets the opponent's net, the Barcelona hitman is known to spare no sentiments while punishing them with goals.
Messi's panache at scoring goals is also the paramount reason that gives him an upper hand than the fabled legends of football, even arguably Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to being chosen as the greatest of all time.
However, as good as he is while finding the net at will, Leo Messi also has failed to deliver the ammunition required to win games on certain occasions. The Barcelona sharpshooter has scored 105 goals in the UEFA Champions League, but some teams have managed to keep him quite successfully.
Without further ado, let's have a look at the five best teams the Argentinian has apparently failed to put to the sword with his goalscoring finesse in the UEFA Champions League.
#5 SL Benfica (2 games)
Lionel Messi had a chance to face Portuguese outfit SL Benfica early in his career when the Catalan giants beat them in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2006, eventually going on to win the competition. However, the then Barcelona youngster missed both the ties due to injury.
Leo Messi came face to face against Benfica for the first time in his career in the group stage of Champions League season 2012/13. He played against the Portuguese club for 122 minutes in 2 games.
Although he orchestrated a win in the first fixture with 2 assists, Benfica were successful in keeping him from finding the net in both games. It remains to be seen whether Messi faces Benfica in the coming years and finds the net against them.
#4 Liverpool (2 games)
Football fans just love projecting how Lionel Messi would have fared in England had he ever joined a Premier League club.
The Argentinian maestro has a stellar record against the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham. In the last season, he also broke his longstanding curse against Chelsea and now has 3 goals in 10 games against the Blues. However, amongst the top 6, he is yet to punish Liverpool with his goals.
Messi has faced Liverpool twice in the Champions League when the two sides met in the last 16 round of the competition in 2007. In spite of playing for 180 minutes in 2 games, the diminutive no.10 failed to rescue the Catalans as he was successfully kept at bay by the Liverpool defenders.
Lionel Messi has faced Liverpool in pre-season friendlies, but the Kop have safely avoided him in the Champions League for the last 11 years.
#3 Inter Milan (3 games)
Barcelona vs Inter Milan was one of the most vital games ever played in modern football. It was in this fixture when Jose Mourinho laid out the blueprint to stop Pep Guardiola's men who were the best football team back in 2010.
The Catalans met Inter 4 times in season 2009-10, twice in the group stage and twice in the semi-finals. However, Messi was far from being at his imperious best in 3 out of the 4 games he faced them.
The resilient Inter defence successfully subdued the Ballon d'Or winner, who failed to find the net in 270 minutes in 3 games against them. The Nerazzurri knocked out the Catalans with an aggregate score of 3-2, eventually beating Bayern Munich in the finals to lift the title.
The football world will once again witness Ernesto Valverde's Barcelona coming up against Inter Milan this season in the Champions League group stage. However, given his recent arm injury against Sevilla, Lionel Messi will probably be out of both the group stage clashes against the Nerazzurri.
#2 Rubin Kazan (4 games)
Rubin Kazan is the only mediocre club that Lionel Messi has failed to score against in the UEFA Champions League.
The Russian outfit were surprisingly difficult for the Barcelona hitman to breach in 237 minutes over a span of 4 games. Lionel Messi faced Rubin Kazan in the group stages of both 2009/10 and 2010/11 editions of the Champions League.
He also had a mediocre result to show post the fixtures, with 1 win, 1 loss and 2 draws. However, the results were far from stopping Barcelona advancing into the later stages. They also clinched the Champions League title with Messi scoring in the final in season 2010/11.
Whether Lionel Messi will face the Russian outfit again is a question only his fate can answer. Until then, Rubin Kazan will definitely remain out of reach and avoid his long and endless list of victims.
#1 Atletico Madrid (4 games)
Surely every one of us is well aware of Lionel Messi's quarter-final curse in the Champions League. The Argentinian has been scoreless in the round in question for the past 4 seasons. As a result, Barcelona too, have failed to pass the round since winning the competition in season 2014-15.
Diego Simeone's defensive contingent has successfully kept Messi at bay for 360 minutes over a span of 4 games. Messi has faced Atletico Madrid on two separate editions in the quarter-finals, in 2013/14 and 2015/16.
He has been on the winning side only once in the four fixtures. He has also drawn once and lost twice while failing to make it to the scoresheet.
Astonishingly, outside the Champions League, Atletico Madrid are Messi's second favourite opponents - he has scored 28 times against them and assisted 6 more in other competitions.
