What do they have in common Boruc, Lloris, Lehmann, Szczesny, Leno, Abbiati, Hart, Cech, Ospina, Trapp, Courteous and Anthony Lopes? From the Polish veteran to the Portuguese, the youngest, they are international goalkeepers. Some are already retired and others have been proclaimed league champions this same season. All twelve have received a goal from Leo Messi in the knockout stages of the Champions League. It is the tie preferred by the Argentine, who almost always leaves his mark and is decisive for Barça in the first round. Setien’s team needs him this Saturday against Naples, either helped by Suárez and Neymar or Ansu Fati and Riqui Puig, to win the ticket to Lisbon.
The crossing of eighths is Messi territory. There is no round that feels better to the Blaugrana captain, who always exhibits all his power and his capacity for intimidation as soon as the knockout European Cup returns. 26 goals from his 114 goals in the Champions League were seen in eighths, for the 12 he has celebrated in the quarters and the six he has signed in the semifinals.
(LVE)
If you mark
Naples can become their 35th victim in the Champions League. The goalkeeper Ospina already beat him in 2016 at the Camp Nou
Messi will never forget the first appearance he made in the knockout stages of the Champions League. He did not score that night but it was like a crush. On February 22, 2006, the Argentine, who was 18 years old, appeared at Stamford Bridge and took Del Horno down the street of bitterness, who was expelled before the break for harshly entering the forward, who overflowed him over and over time. He was to blame for the birth of the Mourinho theater after Barça won 1-2.
On the lap, Leo was injured at the first exchange and lost the final in Paris. But, since then, Messi has been 14 times among the sixteen best teams in Europe and in all but one (2007, eliminated by Liverpool) he has stepped in the rooms. Barça hopes that history will repeat itself.
Since Del Horno’s expulsion
He has scored twice for Arsenal, Milan, Celtic, Chelsea and Lyon … and five goals for Bayer Leverkusen in 2012
Milan took a double from Estadi in 2103, the same as Chelsea in 2018 or O. Lyon last season. Celtic and Arsenal suffered them in the first leg. But if you are talking about a game in which Messi showed off in all his splendor, we must mention the poker with which he punished Bayer Leverkusen. And that came from scoring one at the Bay Arena.
And among the magic nights of the Camp Nou, the comeback 6-1 to PSG in the eighths of 2017 has a preferential space. Messi participated marking the 3-0 penalty.
What is no longer so common is that the Barcelona captain, seven times Pichichi of the Spanish League, raised at this point in the competition with only two goals in his locker. This season he has only beaten Slavia in Prague (thanks to an assist from Arthur) and Borussia Dortmund.
To Slavia and Borussia Dortmun
Seven times Pichichi of the Spanish League, it is a rarity that the captain of Barça has only scored two goals in this Champions
With both the German team, Messi set a new record by raising his victims to 34 in the maximum continental competition. The number could increase tomorrow if he scored against Gattuso’s team, something he could not do at San Paolo (The 1-1 of the first leg was the work of Griezmann).
In fact, who already knows how Leo spends them in Europe is the Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina. In 2016, when he defended Arsenal’s goal, he already received a Vaseline mark from the house of ten at the Camp Nou. In addition, Messi has endorsed two other goals with the Albiceleste shirt of his selection. With the Champions to four games, Messi sharpens the tusk.
Will Barça save the season by winning the Champions League?
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