After Breaking Chelsea Hoodoo, Messi Has Only Failed to Score vs. These 11 Clubs
Lionel Messi scored the equalizer on Tuesday night that has given Barcelona the advantage over Chelsea in the Last 16 of the Champions League. The 1-1 draw and Barça's away goal means Chelsea must score in Camp Nou next month to have any chance of going through.
More than just a significant goal in the game and the tie as a whole, it also saw Messi break a personal duck after never scoring against Chelsea in eight previous outings against them.
The Argentine has scored more than 530 goals in just over 620 appearances for Barcelona since his first-team debut in 2004. Having finally found the net against Chelsea, there are now just 11 teams that he has faced and never scored against during that time, a remarkable feat.
In one of his very early senior appearances, a 17-year-old Messi played in a Barcelona side that was upset in the Copa del Rey by lower league side Gramenet. The third tier team kept their illustrious opponents at bay and managed to win 1-0 in extra-time.
Messi has since scored against the vast majority of Spanish clubs he has faced domestically, but Cadiz, Murcia and Xerez have all managed to keep him out. None of those are currently in the top flight, with Murcia and Xerez in the third and fourth tier respectively.
Girona are the only other Spanish side that Messi is yet to score against. The Catalan club are new to La Liga in 2017/18 and Messi was personally marked out of the game by young fullback Pablo Maffeo when the two sides met earlier this season. They will meet again this weekend.
Where foreign clubs are concerned, he didn't score against Al Sadd of Qatar in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup semi-final when Barça won 4-0, despite playing the full game. He also didn't manage to score against Udinese when they were drawn with Barça in the 2005/06 Champions League group stage, or Russian club Rubin Kazan in the 2009/10 or 2010/11 group stage.
In 2009/10, Messi couldn't score in three appearances against Internazionale.
He didn't manage a goal against Liverpool in the 2006/07 Champions League Last 16, or Benfica when Barça played them in the 2012/13 group stage - Messi had missed both games against the Portuguese club in the 2005/06 quarter finals through injury.
Gramenet, Murcia, Caidz, Xerez, Girona, Al Sadd, Udinese, Rubin Kazan, Inter, Liverpool, Benfica - the clubs that Lionel Messi has played but never scored against. It's not a long list.
