Lionel Messi scored his maiden goal for PSG as the Ligue 1 side beat Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in their second group stage tie of the 2021/22 Champions League campaign.
After Lionel Messi's contract ended with FC Barcelona in the summer of 2021, the Argentine star parted ways with the club ending a 21-year-long relationship with the Spanish giants to move Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain.
During his time at Barcelona, Messi created several records like scoring the most goals in La Liga. He is also the club's most-capped player and their highest goalscorer in history. He won 35 titles in 17 years of his professional career with The Blaugrana which includes 10 La Liga and four Champions League titles.
Former Barcelona and current Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola managed the star attacker for four seasons from 2008 to 2012. The Guardiola-Messi combination weaved magic for the La Liga giants as the club won 14 titles during that time which includes three La Ligas and two Champions League titles. They also achieved the Sextuple in 2009, winning every competition they played in.
It is often said that Guardiola played a major role in shaping the career of Messi. Also,with Messi on his team, Guardiola has also enjoyed the most success in his managerial career. In fact without Messi in his team, the Spanish manager has never won a Champions League title.
Under Guardiola, Messi has appeared in 47 Champions League matches where he scored 43 goals and won 28 matches. 15 matches ended in ties and he lost only four games.
After the Spaniard left Barcelona in 2012, he has since managed Bayern Munich for three seasons (2013-2016) and is currently in charge of Manchester City (2016-present). In the last eight years, Messi has played against a Guardiola team on five occasions in Champions League, twice against Bayern Munich and thrice against Manchester City.
Against the Bundesliga side, Messi scored two goals as Barcelona outclassed Bayern Munich 5-3 over two legs in the semifinal of the 2014/15 Champions League. In the 2016/17 season, after Guardiola took charge of City, his team met Messi's Barcelona in the group stage. Messi scored four goals in two meetings which includes a hat-trick
What is Lionel Messi's record for Pep Guardiola's Barcelona in Champions League?
| Season | Match | Result | Messi goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008/09 | FC Barcelona 3-1 Sporting Lisbon | W | - |
| 2008/09 | Shakhtar Donetsk 1-2 FC Barcelona | W | 2 |
| 2008/09 | FC Basel 0-5 FC Barcelona | W | 1 |
| 2008/09 | FC Barcelona 1-1 FC Basel | D | 1 |
| 2008/09 | Sporting Lisbon 2-5 FC Barcelona | W | 1 |
| 2008/09 | Lyon 1-1 FC Barcelona | D | - |
| 2008/09 | FC Barcelona 5-2 Lyon | W | 1 |
| 2008/09 | FC Barcelona 4-0 Bayern Munich | W | 2 |
| 2008/09 | Bayern Munich 1-1 FC Barcelona | D | - |
| 2008/09 | FC Barcelona 0-0 Chelsea | D | - |
| 2008/09 | Chelsea 1-1 FC Barcelona | D | 1 |
| 2008/09 | FC Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United | W | 2 |
| 2009/10 | Inter Milan 0-0 FC Barcelona | D | - |
| 2009/10 | FC Barcelona 2-0 Dinamo Kyiv | W | 1 |
| 2009/10 | FC Barcelona 1-2 Rubin Kazan | L | - |
| 2009/10 | Rubin Kazan 0-0 FC Barcelona | D | - |
| 2009/10 | Dinamo Kyiv 1-2 FC Barcelona | W | 1 |
| 2009/10 | Stuttgart 1-1 FC Barcelona | D | - |
| 2009/10 | FC Barcelona 4-0 Stuttgart | W | 2 |
| 2009/10 | Arsenal 2-2 FC Barcelona | D | - |
| 2009/10 | FC Barcelona 4-1 Arsenal | W | 4 |
| 2009/10 | Inter Milan 3-1 FC Barcelona | L | - |
| 2009/10 | FC Barcelona 1-0 Inter Milan | W | - |
| 2010/11 | FC Barcelona 5-1 Panathinaikos | W | 2 |
| 2010/11 | Rubin Kazan 1-1 FC Barcelona | D | - |
| 2010/11 | FC Barcelona 2-0 FC Copenhagen | W | 2 |
| 2010/11 | FC Copenhagen 1-1 FC Barcelona | D | 1 |
| 2010/11 | Panathinaikos 0-3 FC Barcelona | W | 1 |
| 2010/11 | FC Barcelona 2-0 Rubin Kazan | W | - |
| 2010/11 | Arsenal 2-1 FC Barcelona | L | - |
| 2010/11 | FC Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal | W | 2 |
| 2010/11 | FC Barcelona 5-1 Shakhtar Donetsk | W | - |
| 2010/11 | Shakhtar Donetsk 0-1 FC Barcelona | W | 1 |
| 2010/11 | Real Madrid 0-2 FC Barcelona | W | 2 |
| 2010/11 | FC Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid | D | - |
| 2010/11 | FC Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United | W | 1 |
| 2011/12 | FC Barcelona 2-2 AC Milan | D | - |
| 2011/12 | BATE Borisov 0-5 FC Barcelona | W | 2 |
| 2011/12 | FC Barcelona 2-0 Viktoria Plzen | W | - |
| 2011/12 | Viktoria Plzen 0-4 FC Barcelona | W | 3 |
| 2011/12 | AC Milan 2-3 FC Barcelona | W | 1 |
| 2011/12 | Bayer Leverkusen 1-3 FC Barcelona | W | 1 |
| 2011/12 | FC Barcelona 7-1 Bayer Leverkusen | W | 5 |
| 2011/12 | AC Milan 0-0 FC Barcelona | D | - |
| 2011/12 | FC Barcelona 3-1 AC Milan | W | 2 |
| 2011/12 | Chelsea 1-0 FC Barcelona | L | - |
| 2011/12 | FC Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea | D | - |
What is Lionel Messi's record against Pep Guardiola's teams in Champions League?
| Season | Match | Result | Messi goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014/15 | FC Barcelona 3-0 Bayern Munich | W | 2 |
| 2014/15 | Bayern Munich 3-2 FC Barcelona | L | - |
| 2016/17 | FC Barcelona 4-0 Manchester City | W | 3 |
| 2016/17 | Manchester City 3-1 FC Barcelona | L | 1 |
| 2021/22 | PSG 2-0 Manchester City | W | 1 |