In our previous listicle, we mentioned the four teams Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has scored most goals against. Obviously, all four teams were Spanish e.g. Atheltic Bilbao, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla.
This time around, we will mention the four non-Spanish teams that have had the worst of the little Argentine. SPOILER ALERT: the following are some big names in the world of football.
The English champions have faced Lionel Messi six times in the UEFA Champions League fixtures and have had to face the worst side of his on all 6 occasions. In his 6 appearances against the citizens, Messi has scored 6 times and made 3 assists, making city one of his favourites to play against. Thanks to his penalty miss in 2015 or else the score would have been 7.
4. Bayer Leverkusen
Who could forget Lionel Messi’s 5-goals in a game against Bayer Leverkusen at the team’s own backyard? That’s 5-in-1, plus 2 more in 2 other occasions, and that’s a total of 7 goals in 3 games. And if you add up his single assist against the German club, Messi has contributed to 8 goals in just 3 games. INSANE!
3. Celtic
The Irish club is third on Lionel Messi‘s list of most favourite targets. He has scored 8 goals against Celtic in 6 games with 1 assist. This means he has contributed to 9 goals against Celtic, which is not bad either.
4. AC Milan
If you know football, you know AC Milan, it’s as simple as that. This is one of the biggest clubs in the history of football and also a runners-up here. His stats against this particular Italian club are also astonishing. Messi has scored 8 goals in 8 games and assisted 4 times, which makes the total goal contribution tally 12. He has also won 4 times, drew 3 times and lost just 1.
5. Arsenal
But Arsenal are the club Messi has inflicted most damage on in Europe. With 9 goals in 6 games, Arsenal have been on the receiving end the most times for a non-Spanish club. Moreover, there are a lot of highlight performances of Messi against Arsenal too. For example, his super hat-trick at the Camp Nou against the London-based club in 2009-10 campaign still haunts the Gunners.
