Lionel Messi continues to break new boundaries with every new season, and is showing no signs of slowing down at 31 years of age.
He currently tops the race for the European Golden Shoe ahead of the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Mohamed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo and scored the only goal against Levante that clinched Barcelona's 26th La Liga title.
The Argentina superstar also leads the Champions League top scorer chart heading into the first leg of the semi-finals with 10 goals. He scored twice in the return leg of the quarter-final clash against Manchester United, and the Liga giants look to be favourites to win the Champions League this season after previous frontrunners Juventus, Real Madrid and Man City were knocked out earlier than expected.
But with Barcelona facing off against Premier League title contenders Liverpool in the last four, Messi faces a few more hurdles before his side are able to secure a spot in the final. But what is the 31-year-old's record against the Merseysiders?
Surprisingly enough, there are just six teams out of the 37 that Messi has come up against in the Champions League he has failed to score against, and Liverpool is one of them.
The Argentine faced Liverpool on two occasions in the Champions League, coming in the last 16 round of the 2006-07 season.
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The tie ended 2-2 on aggregate, but the Reds ended up progressing to the next round based on away goals. Liverpool won 2-1 at Camp Nou through strikes from John Arne Riise and Craig Bellamy, and a 1-0 victory at Anfield for Barcelona was not enough to see them through to the quarter-finals.
Messi will, of course, get his chance to score against Liverpool when the two meet in the semi-finals on May 1 and May 7, and has already proven that he has a penchant for scoring against sides based in the north west of England.
Interestingly, Messi has also never scored against Spanish rivals Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, despite obviously netting against them several times in domestic competitions. He has also never scored against Inter in Europe – a semi-final loss to Jose Mourinho's side in 2010 will no doubt haunt him – and has also never scored against Udinese and Benfica.
What teams has Lionel Messi never scored against?
| Club | Goals | Assists | Games played | Minutes played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benfica | 0 | 2 | 2 | 119 |
| Atletico Madrid | 0 | 0 | 4 | 360 |
| Rubin Kazan | 0 | 0 | 4 | 237 |
| Inter | 0 | 0 | 3 | 270 |
| Liverpool | 0 | 0 | 2 | 180 |
| Udinese | 0 | 0 | 1 | 70 |
*Correct as of April 30, 2019.