Lionel Messi can boast of having one of the greatest individual careers the game of soccer has ever seen which is why he is widely regarded as one of the best players ever to step on the pitch and his recent triumph of the biggest trophy in the game, the World Cup has enhanced his claim as the Greatest of All Time.
Messi has been part of some brilliant teams over the years most notable among those being Pep Guardiola’s sextuple-winning FC Barcelona in 2009 and the MSN (Messi, Suarez, and Neymar) in 2015. Over the years, Messi has scored some brilliant goals that have left the fans, commentators, and even his opponents star-struck.
His greatest goal arguably is the one which he scored against Getafe in 2006-07 when he was still coming of age but he had already shown signs of what he could do and how high his potential was. His similar goal of taking on the whole defense of Athletic Bilbao in the 2014-15 season again comes close to being one of his best.
The best Champions League goal of all time is Lionel Messi’s goal against Liverpool
— Leo Messi (@Messi_10_30) February 6, 2023
But today we’ll be looking at a goal that has been regarded as the best UEFA Champions League goal ever, Lionel Messi’s stunning top bin freekick against Liverpool’s Allison in the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League semi-final.
Messi scored the brilliant freekick from 25 yards out into the top corner towards the right side of Alisson who is a brilliant keeper in his own right but had no answer to the free kick which left the whole stadium and fans all across the world stunned.
Real Madrid fans might not agree to this goal is the greatest UCL goal ever as they witnessed two of their former stars, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale scoring sublime overhead kicks in UEFA Champions League knockouts before this season.
Lionel Messi’s stunning goal wasn’t enough for FC Barcelona to beat Liverpool
As good as this top-bin freekick was from Lionel Messi, it wasn’t enough for the Catalan club to go into the Champions League finals. Messi scored the free kick in the first leg of the semi-final at Camp Nou giving Barcelona a three-goal advantage going to Anfield for the second leg.
The tie was all but done but what followed at Anfield in the second leg is regarded as one of the best comebacks in the history of the UCL. Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool took the lead early on in the second leg through Divock Origi before the super sub, Giorginio Wijnaldum scored two quick goals in the second half to put the scores level on aggregate at 3-3.
In the 79th minute of the game, Trent Alexander Arnold took a really quick corner much to the surprise of FC Barcelona and even his teammates but there was one man who knew what was happening and tucked in the goal at the near post, the man was Divock Origi.
The goal proved decisive in the tie and Liverpool won the semi-final tie and went on to win their 6th Champions League title beating Tottenham in the final. Even though Lionel Messi scored one of the greatest free-kick goals in the history of the UCL, it wasn’t enough for his team FC Barcelona to go through and win the tie.