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Which team does Messi have the most goals against?

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  • Chris Wright, Toe Poke writerJul 26, 2023, 08:00 AM ET

Lionel Messi made his first start for Inter Miami CF on Tuesday and, having assumed the role of captain, lived up to the armband as his new team ran out 4-0 winners over fellow MLS side Atlanta United in the group stage of the Leagues Cup.

Messi scored two first-half goals, taking his individual tally to three goals in two games for Miami, as well setting up another. With his brace at DRV PNK Stadium, the veteran maestro hit the back of the net against the 100th different club of his long and distinguished career.

Atlanta now join a catalogue of clubs that Messi has scored against, which began against Albacete at the end of the 2004-05 season. Just 17 at the time, Messi came off the Barcelona bench in the 87th minute, received a cute pass from Ronaldinho and quickly lofted a shot over the advancing goalkeeper to score his first senior goal.

Now at age 36, after scoring hundreds of goals in LaLiga for Barcelona, Ligue 1 for Paris Saint-Germain, for both clubs in the UEFA Champions League and now North America, the legendary Argentina forward has brought up his century.

Here are the 100 clubs that Messi has now scored against during his 20-year club career, grouped by the total amount of goals he has scored against each.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

1 goal

Albacete, Ajaccio, Angers, Benfica, Benidorm, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Monchengladbach, Cadiz, Ceuta, Cruz Azul, Estudiantes, Ferencvaros, Lorient, Marseille, Napoli, Olympiakos, Porto, River Plate, Rangers, Sporting CP, Strasbourg, Troyes, Toulouse, Werder Bremen

Buried among the cavalcade of teams to have conceded just once against Messi are Albacete, who have the distinction of being the very first club to witness the young prodigy’s greatness back in 2005.

2 goals

Atlanta United, Basel, BATE Borisov, Clermont Foot, Club Bruges, Gimnastic, Hercules, Lens, Liverpool, Nice, Numancia, Roma, RB Leipzig, Santos, Tottenham Hotspur

3 goals

APOEL, Chelsea, Copenhagen, Dynamo Kyiv, Huelva, Juventus, Lille, Maccabi Haifa, Montpellier, Nantes, Shakhtar Donetsk, Stuttgart, Viktoria Plzen

4 goals

Bayern Munich, Girona, Huesca, Las Palmas, Manchester United, Panathinaikos, PSV Eindhoven, Spartak Moscow

Messi’s four goals against Manchester United include strikes in two different Champions League finals — the 2-0 win in Rome in 2009 and the 3-1 victory at Wembley two years later.

5 goals

Tenerife

6 goals

Ajax, Cordoba, Lyon, Paris Saint-Germain, Sporting Gijon

Paris Saint-Germain are the only of Messi’s former clubs to also appear on the list of teams he’s scored against. He registered six goals during his Champions League exploits with Barca prior to signing for the French giants in August 2021. One of those six strikes against PSG came in that famous “Remontada” round-of-16 tie in 2017 when Barca reversed a 4-0 deficit, won the second leg 6-1 and advanced to the quarters via a thrilling flurry of late action.

7 goals

Bayer Leverkusen, Elche, Manchester City

8 goals

AC Milan, Celtic, Real Valladolid

9 goals

Arsenal

The highest non-Spanish team on the list, Arsenal have conceded nine goals against Messi alone during the past two decades. That total includes four in one game during the 2009-10 Champions League quarterfinals. The Barca star scored all four goals in a 4-1 second leg victory that sealed a 6-3 aggregate romp for the Catalans.

11 goals

Leganes

12 goals

Racing Santander

13 goals

Alaves, Almeria, Malaga

14 goals

Celta Vigo, Real Zaragoza

15 goals

Granada

16 goals

Mallorca

17 goals

Villarreal

18 goals

Rayo Vallecano, Real Sociedad

Real Sociedad became 46th opponents to have their resolve broken by Messi. They were also the team he faced when he broke Barcelona’s appearance record in March 2021, further icing the cake on the day by scoring two goals in a 6-1 thrashing.

20 goals

Deportivo la Coruna, Eibar

21 goals

Getafe

24 goals

Levante

25 goals

Espanyol, Osasuna

26 goals

Real Betis, Real Madrid

Messi came up against the old enemy Real Madrid 47 times during his Barca career and scored 26 Clasico goals in that time: 18 goals in LaLiga, six in the Spanish Supercopa and two in the Champions League. Arguably his most enduring moment against Real was his stoppage-time winner in 2017, which he celebrated by hoisting his own jersey aloft to defiantly present it to the Bernabeu crowd.

29 goals

Athletic Club

30 goals

Valencia

Messi has scored four hat tricks against Valencia — including this outstanding treble in 2010 — which is more than against any other club.

32 goals

Atletico Madrid

38 goals

Sevilla

No team has suffered more at the hands (or should that be the feet?) of Messi than Sevilla, who have conceded more of his goals that any other club — and by a fair margin.

Indeed, Messi only faced Sevilla 43 times in all competitions with Barca and yet still helped himself to 38 goals (and 20 assists.)

This goal, which features Messi nutmegging a defender and chipping the goalkeeper, might just be the pick of the bunch.


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