Who are Lionel Messi's favourite opponents?
Friday 24 June 2022
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What teams bring out the killer in Lionel Messi? Which teams are his kryptonite?
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Lionel Messi has played 160 European games over the years for Barcelona and now Paris Saint-Germain, all in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup, scoring 128 goals in meetings with 45 different clubs. Does he enjoy facing some teams more than others?
• Messi has scored 128 goals in 13,300 minutes of European football; that's a goal every 103 minutes and 54 seconds on average.
• The Argentinian has faced 45 different clubs in Europe (from 18 countries), failing to score against five: Atlético, Benfica, Inter, Rubin Kazan and Udinese. Atlético and Inter are the sides Messi has gone longest without scoring against: 360 minutes in UEFA competition.
• Chelsea are the team Messi has played the most minutes against (835 across ten matches); he did not score in his first 730 minutes facing the Blues but struck three times in two games against them in 2017/18.
• The only other team he encountered ten times in Europe with Barcelona were his new club Paris, totalling six goals over 794 minutes.
• The keeper who has gone the longest without conceding against Messi in Europe is Inter's Júlio César – 270 minutes – though Rubin Kazan's Sergei Ryzhikov may feel he has the moral right to that title. He went unbeaten in 237 minutes against Messi; that run took in four matches as opposed to Júlio César's three.
• Messi has scored more goals against Arsenal than any other team in UEFA competition – nine in 447 minutes comprising six games. On average, that's a goal every 49 minutes and 40 seconds.
• His most amenable opponents are Bayer Leverkusen: Messi has hit seven goals in 270 minutes against them, at a rate of one every 38 minutes and 34 seconds. Five of those strikes famously came in one match, a 7-1 win on 7 March 2012.
Who has Messi scored against in UEFA competition?
Opponents by club | Games | Minutes | Goals | Minutes per goal |
AC Milan | 8 | 720 | 8 | 90m |
APOEL | 2 | 180 | 3 | 60m |
Ajax | 3 | 247 | 6 | 41m10s |
Arsenal | 6 | 447 | 9 | 49m40s |
Atlético | 4 | 360 | - | - |
Basel | 2 | 120 | 2 | 60m |
BATE | 1 | 90 | 2 | 45m |
Bayern | 6 | 540 | 4 | 135m |
Benfica | 2 | 122 | - | - |
Bremen | 2 | 49 | 1 | 49m |
Celtic | 6 | 488 | 8 | 61m |
Chelsea | 10 | 835 | 3 | 278m20s |
Club Brugge | 2 | 180 | 2 | 90m |
Copenhagen | 2 | 180 | 3 | 60m |
Dortmund | 2 | 121 | 1 | 121m |
Dynamo Kyiv | 3 | 270 | 3 | 90m |
Ferencváros | 1 | 90 | 1 | 90m |
Inter | 4 | 360 | - | - |
Juventus | 7 | 574 | 3 | 191m20s |
Leipzig | 1 | 90 | 2 | 45m |
Leverkusen | 3 | 270 | 7 | 38m34s |
Liverpool | 4 | 360 | 2 | 180m |
Lyon | 6 | 538 | 5 | 107m36s |
Manchester City | 8 | 720 | 7 | 102m51s |
Manchester United | 6 | 512 | 4 | 128m |
Mönchengladbach | 1 | 90 | 1 | 90m |
Napoli | 2 | 180 | 1 | 180m |
Olympiacos | 2 | 180 | 1 | 180m |
Panathinaikos | 4 | 293 | 4 | 73m25s |
Paris | 10 | 794 | 6 | 132m20s |
Plzeň | 2 | 180 | 3 | 60m |
Porto | 1 | 90 | 1 | 90m |
PSV | 2 | 180 | 4 | 45m |
Rangers | 2 | 180 | 1 | 180m |
Real Madrid | 4 | 360 | 2 | 180m |
Roma | 4 | 360 | 2 | 180m |
Rubin Kazan | 4 | 237 | - | - |
Sevilla | 2 | 210 | 2 | 105m |
Shakhtar | 5 | 420 | 3 | 140m |
Slavia Praha | 2 | 180 | 1 | 180m |
Spartak Moskva | 2 | 180 | 4 | 45m |
Sporting CP | 4 | 266 | 1 | 266m |
Stuttgart | 3 | 270 | 3 | 90m |
Tottenham | 2 | 117 | 2 | 58m30s |
Udinese | 1 | 70 | - | - |
TOTAL | 158 | 13210 | 128 | 103m12s |
Which nations' clubs has Messi scored against?
• Of the big five European footballing nations, German opponents seem to suit Messi best: he scores on average every 75 minutes against Bundesliga clubs. Goals are much rarer against sides from England (every 111 minutes), France (121 minutes), Italy (162 minutes) and Spain (232 minutes).
• Messi may relish Portuguese defences least of all; in 478 minutes against Liga teams, he has scored just twice – a goal every 239 minutes.
Opponents by nationality | Games | Minutes | Goals | Minutes per goal |
Belarus | 1 | 90 | 2 | 45m |
Belgium | 2 | 180 | 2 | 90m |
Cyprus | 2 | 180 | 3 | 60m |
Czech Republic | 4 | 360 | 4 | 90m |
Denmark | 2 | 180 | 3 | 60m |
England | 36 | 2991 | 27 | 110m47s |
France | 16 | 1332 | 11 | 121m5s |
Germany | 18 | 1430 | 19 | 75m26s |
Greece | 6 | 473 | 5 | 94m36s |
Hungary | 1 | 90 | 1 | 90m |
Italy | 26 | 2264 | 14 | 161m43s |
Netherlands | 5 | 427 | 10 | 42m42s |
Portugal | 7 | 478 | 2 | 239m |
Russia | 6 | 417 | 4 | 105m15s |
Scotland | 8 | 668 | 9 | 74m20s |
Spain | 10 | 930 | 4 | 232m30s |
Switzerland | 2 | 120 | 2 | 60m |
Ukraine | 8 | 690 | 6 | 115m |
TOTAL | 159 | 13210 | 128 | 103m12s |
When Messi has scored his UEFA club competition goals
• Messi is relatively slow to get started after the whistle; his least prolific scoring periods are at the start of either half. By contrast, he seems to hit something of a critical goalscoring mass in the closing stages: 15 goals between the 86th minute and the final whistle.
Time | Goals (penalties) |
0-10 | 8 (1) |
11-20 | 14 (2) |
21-30 | 16 (4) |
31-40 | 17 (1) |
41-half-time | 9 (1) |
FIRST HALF | 64 |
46-55 | 7 (2) |
56-65 | 14 (2) |
66-75 | 14 (2) |
76-85 | 14 (2) |
86-full-time | 15 (1) |
SECOND HALF | 64 |
TOTAL | 128 |
Last updated 09/03/2022