Sportco List of the Top 10 Most Iconic Moments of Lionel Messi for Barcelona

As Messi bids farewell to Barcelona Sportco provides you top 10  most iconic and heart-warming moments of Lionel Messi at Barcelona. 

FC Barcelona fanbase and football fans were in meltdown when Barcelona announced that Lionel Messi and Barcelona will be parting ways this summer after their new contract negotiations for Messi stalled.

The reason being Barcelona exceeded their wage bill and according to La Liga rules, the club cannot make further signings. 

Now Lionel Messi has certainly become a free agent and sources say PSG have negotiated a (2+1 year optional) deal with Lionel Messi which will be announced soon. 

Since the Argentine's 17-years stint with Barcelona has come to an end, we look at his 10 memorable and iconic moments of Lionel Messi. 

1) Messi’s chip against Bayern Munich

It was the 2015 Champions League semi-final the stage was set between Bayern Munich and Barcelona. The onus was on the deadly trio of Mess-Suarez-Neymar. 

The score was 0-0 and the game was heading into its closing stage. Till 77 minutes when Messi took the game in his head and scored a long-range goal. 

In 80 the minute, the world was going to witness one of Lionel Messi’s greatest goals of his career. A pass from Ivan Rakitic, as Messi ran towards Jerome Boateng with the ball glued to his feet, the diminutive Argentine did an in and out with the ball and sent the Boateng tumbling on the ground before lifting the ball deftly over Manuel Neuer, and sent the whole stadium in euphoria.

This goal became the most tweeted goal in the history of football with fans tweeting 25,300 tweets per minute. Definitely one of the greatest and most iconic moments of Lionel Messi in the Champions League for Barcelona.   

2) Messi’s solo goal vs Getafe

At the age of 19, Messi was establishing his goat status at Camp Nou. In a match against Getafe Messi did something out of this world, which is considered one of the greatest goals in Barcelona's football folklore. 

He picked the ball and clutched it from the half-line, slaloming past defenders as if it was a walk in the park for Messi before putting the past Getafe's goalkeeper.  

It was like he emulated Maradona’s solo goal which he scored against England in the 1986 World Cup. This solo effort by Lionel Messi will always be remembered as one of the best goals and also one of the most iconic moments of his Barcelona career.

3) First Hat-trick against Real Madrid

At just 19-year-old a guy from Rosario was cementing his legacy at Barcelona. On March 10th, 2007 Lionel Messi made entire fans come to their feet when he scored a hat-trick against Real Madrid. 

Lionel Messi was the star of that match, netting three goals past Iker Casillas, he was in the spotlight. Barcelona were trailing 3-0, and it was Messi who pulled them back and salvaged a point for them. 

4) Last minute winner vs Atletico Madrid

Lionel Messi was on the headlines of Spain’s newspaper after his incredible sublime winner goal against Atletico Madrid which sent them top of the table. 

It looked like the game was ending in a 0-0 draw, only four minutes were remaining on the clock and Barcelona was on the counter-attack, and Messi had the ball before doing one-on-one with Luiz Suarez who laid-off ball perfectly from the edge of the penalty box for Messi to curl the ball sweetly into the corner of Jan Oblak's goal.   

5) Six Ballon D’or 

Lionel Messi created history after winning the Ballon d'Or for the sixth time, overtaking his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo who has won five times. 

Since taking over the reins of Barcelona, Messi has been the protagonist of the club. Having Scored an insane 672 goals and won countless trophies with the club. 

In 2019 Messi was the Favourites to win the most prestigious award, having scored 46 times for club and country and leading his side to La Liga title, the 24-year-old beat Virgil van Dijk to win the Ballon d'Or. Messi has also come out on top in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015.  

6) 5 goals against Bayern Leverkusen in a single game

Lionel Messi created history when put five past Leverkusen, by doing so he became the first player in football to score five goals in Champions League. 

Messi was getting praises from the fans and pundits, as it was a remarkable milestone that nobody has achieved in their career. In one of his iconic moments in Barcelona’s jersey, he also broke Cesar Rodríguez, Barcelona's record highest goalscorer at the time. 

"He deserves to be honored right now because it's something really incredible that he is now just seven goals behind Cesar Rodríguez - he's only 24," marveled Pep Guardiola. 

#7 Iconic Celebration at the Bernabeu

Lionel Messi's brace kept Barcelona title hopes alive in La Liga.  

As the final whistle was looming around, it looked like the game will end in a 2-2 stalemate. Barcelona got a chance to counter-attack, with Sergio Roberto excellent run releasing a pass to Gomes, who saw Alba running past him and an inch-perfect pass to Alba, who laid perfectly-placed cutback in the box to an unmarked Messi, who came running towards the ball and slotted home his 500th career goal and netted a last-ditch winner against Real Madrid.

Messi then went towards Real Madrid fans and took off his jersey with his name facing toward the stunned Bernabéu crowd. 

This celebration by Messi will go down as one of the most iconic moments in the Real Madrid vs Barcelona rivalry in years to come.

8) 91 goals in a calendar year

It was his one of the most iconic year, he hit absolute heights in that year, scoring a mammoth 91 goals in a calendar year, and breaking Gerd Muller all-time record of 85 goals from 1972.  

The Diminutive Argentine scored 79 with Barça (59 in La Liga, 13 in the Champions League, 5 in the Copa del Rey, and 2 in the Spanish Super Cup) plus 12 with the Argentina national side.

9) 4 goals against Arsenal in UCL

During his 20s Messi hit his stride and was a well-established player in football. In Barcelona's 2006 UCL triumph against Arsenal, Messi was left out of the squad due to injury problems. 

In 2009-2010 UCL Messi faced Arsenal for the first time, and he was omnipresent in the game, dribbling, through-balls, and most chances created. When the referee blew the final whistle, it was Messi who made a record netting four past Arsenal. 

10) Solo goal against Real Madrid  

We wrap up the list of the most iconic moments of Lionel Messi for Barcelona with a truly special goal.

One of the high-voltage games in the Champions League, as the expectations were high from both club’s key players. 

However, Lionel Messi was the man who stole the spotlight with his brace. He made Real Madrid work difficult when he found the net in the 75th minute through Afellay’s cross. 

The game wasn’t over for Lionel Messi when he picked a pass from Busquets and danced past four real Madrid defenders before putting the ball beyond Casillas, and the fans stood up in ecstasy as they witnessed the greatest goal of Lionel Messi.

This was our top 10 list of the most iconic moments of Lionel Messi at Barcelona. Did we miss out on any of your favorite moments of Messi for Barca? Do let us know in the comments section below.