Since Lionel Messi played in, and won, his first final in 2005 with the Argentinean side against Nigeria (2-1) in the Under-20 World Cup to last night’s defeat for Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final against Valencia (1-2) fourteen years have passed.
Messi’s record in finals
Over those years Messi has played a total of 35 finals – including the two-legged Spanish Super Cup finals – with a total of 24 won and 11 lost. And across all those finals the Argentinean star has played a key role, scoring 31 goals.
The 11 defeats are shared between club and country: with Barcelona he’s lost seven times; with Argentina he’s picked up a runners-up medal four times.
There’s no doubt which was the most painful final to lose: the World Cup in 2015 against Germany in Brazil (1-0). The sorrow of that night still haunts Messi – he’s obsessed with winning the World Cup, the one title he’s failed to collect in his glittering career.
With Barcelona, the 3-0 defeat to Sevilla in the 2006 European Super Cup may have been the most disconcerting, but Messi back then was a youngster who’d only just come out of the youth set-up. As a mature player the way in which Barcelona capitulated to Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup is likely his most painful memory of a final.
Messi of course has already tasted defeat in a Copa del Rey final, Barcelona having been beaten by Real Madrid in 2011 (1-0) and 2014 (2-1). Last night’s defeat to Valencia was Messi’s third defeat in the final of Spain’s domestic cup competition. On the plus side, Messi has won the trophy six times: 2009, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, meaning he’s won twice as many finals as he’s lost.
There’s only one competition where Messi has a 100% record in finals: the Champions League, where he’s won the tournament every time he’s been in the final: 2009 against Manchester United (2-0), 2011 again against Man Utd (3-1) and 2015 against Juventus (3-1). (He did play in the Champions League in 2005-06 but missed the final against Arsenal through injury. Barcelona won 2-1). The problem for Messi is that since 2015 Barcelona have failed to reach the final…
Lionel Messi: 35 finals played, 31 goals and 24 wins - AS English
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