Free-kicks, solo goals, 30-yard thunderbolts, headers, penalties, acrobatic efforts. You name it, Lionel Messi has scored it throughout his illustrious career.The Argentine is responsible for some of the most famous goals in football history. Who could forget his dinked effort against Bayern Munich a few years back? Jerome Boateng certainly hasn’t. Or his header in the Champions League final against Manchester United? And that’s not even scratching the surface of what we’ve seen over the years.Things could have been even better, though, as shown by a viral Twitter thread, which details Messi’s greatest ‘nearly goals’.In what could have been a number of spectacular moments, we’ve taken a look at the top five from the thread.
5 Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Bilbao have fallen victim to Messi’s solo efforts in the past, with the magician scoring one of his best against them back in 2015. This one could have been even better, however.
The Argentine turned his marker inside out, went past another, before nutmegging one final victim. With just the goalkeeper to beat, however, Messi uncharacteristically failed to finish, finding the shot-stopper’s grateful arms.
4 Barcelona vs Espanyol
When Messi goes on one of his famous solo runs, what is left is only comparable to some kind of Renaissance painting, as bodies are left scrambling behind, twisted and turned into oblivion.
Against Espanyol, this was exactly the case, too. Messi dodged challenge after challenge at an impossible speed, with defenders made to look fools with attempted swipes to regain possession.
All that was left to do was finish, but on this occasion, Messi couldn’t find the back of the net – though Luis Suarez was on hand to bag the rebound.
3 Real Madrid vs Barcelona
When it comes to El Clasico goals, no player has scored more than Messi’s 26, with the Ballon d’Or winner finding the back of the net in a range of incredible ways.
He once came closest to what would have been his most unique goal against Real Madrid, however, after hitting the far post directly from a corner.
To this day, it’s hard to know if he would’ve meant it, but we know that he is certainly capable of producing such magic, especially against Los Blancos – so we’ll give him the well-earned benefit of the doubt.
2 Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid
Just like Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid know all too well what it’s like to face Messi at his devastating best, and they could have had the best seat in the house for one of his best goals.
Driving past defenders in vintage fashion, the Barcelona legend attempted to finish things off with a delightful dink, before seeing his effort roll agonisingly past the post.
Leaving defenders for dead on his way to goal, it would have been some effort by Messi.
1 Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid
We told you he liked special moments against Atletico Madrid, didn’t we?
The World Cup winner very nearly netted one of his best once again against the La Liga side, racing past five players, before dropping the shoulder, and sending an effort towards the top left, only to see the ball drift inches wide.
The fact that Messi’s had so many more moments that could have been so special, on top of his current collection, just shows how incomparable his legacy at the top of European football really is.