Nothing but blanks against the Blues.
Lionel Messi has an outstanding record of scoring against English teams in the Champions League, with 17 goals in 16 games. He has scored a hat-trick against Manchester City, four goals in one game against Arsenal and found the net in two different finals to crush Manchester United.
However, he has never managed to score against Chelsea.
It’s surprising, especially when you consider the Argentine has faced them eight times. There aren’t a lot of teams, either in Spain or across Europe, who can say they have always managed to keep Messi off the score-sheet – but Chelsea can.
Messi has had eight games and 29 shots in total against the Premier League side, but has never scored. It’s difficult to fathom for a player who has 525 goals in 606 appearances for Barcelona, but it’s true. He even missed a penalty against Chelsea in April 2012, when his effort came back off the bar.
Leo Messi vs Chelsea: ❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
8️⃣ games
0️⃣ goals #UCLDraw pic.twitter.com/5Zmoi4rw1O— Eurosport (@eurosport) December 11, 2017
Antonio Conte will certainly be hoping that the hex continues when Barca meet Chelsea in the Champions League last-16 in February. But, of course, the Italian will know that Messi’s struggles in previous games will have little bearing on how he performs this time around.
He may, however, draw more encouragement from Messi’s struggles to find the net in this season’s Champions League. While you would expect the five-time Ballon d’Or winner to be at the top of the scoring charts, he has only managed three goals in Europe this term.
Cristiano Ronaldo has nine, while Roberto Firmino, Harry Kane, Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Wissam Ben Yedder all have six. At this stage last season, Messi already had ten.
Whether Messi scores or not, it will be a fascinating tie. Chelsea and Barca have met several times in the Champions League knockout. The Blues upset the Catalan giants to reach the final back in 2012, while a last-gasp Andres Iniesta sent Pep Guardiola’s side through at Chelsea’s expense in 2009, a controversial match which saw Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo turn down four penalty appeals from Chelsea players.
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