-
LIONEL MESSI BORN
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi was born 24 June 1987 in Rosario to parents Jorge Horacio Messi, a factory steel worker, and Celia María Cuccittini, a part-time cleaner -
LIONEL MESSI FIVE YEARS
At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father Jorge -
LIONEL MESSI NEWELL´S OLD BOYS
In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys who were based in his home city Rosario. -
LIONEL MESSI A HEALTH PROBLEM
At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency.The traditional River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for treatment for his condition which cost $900 a month. Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, had been made aware of his talent as Messi had relatives in Lleida, Catalonia, and Messi and his father were able to arrange a trial. Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered Messi a contract written on -
LIONEL MESSI LEAGUE DEBUT
A year later, Frank Rijkaard let him make his league debut against RCD Espanyol on 16 October 2004 (at 17 years and 114 days), becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga. -
LIONEL MESSI 16 YEARS
Messi made his official debut for the first-team on 16 November 2003 aged 16 years and 145 days, in a friendly match against Porto -
LIONEL MESSI 17 YEARS
When he scored his first senior goal for the club against Albacete Balompié on 1 May 2005, Messi was 17 years, -
LIONEL MESSI ITALIAN CLUB UDINESE
On 16 September, for the second time in three months, Barcelona announced an update to Messi's contract; this time it was improved to pay him as a first team member and extended until June 2014. Messi obtained Spanish citizenship on 26 September 2005 and was finally able to make his debut in the season's Spanish First Division. Messi's first home outing in the Champions League came on 27 September against Italian club Udinese -
LIONEL MESSI BARCELONA
ten months and seven days old, becoming the youngest to ever score in a La Liga game for Barcelona until it was again broken by Bojan Krkić in 2007, scoring from a Messi assist. Messi said about his ex-coach Rijkaard: "I'll never forget the fact that he launched my career, that he had confidence in me while I was only sixteen or seventeen." -
LIONEL MESSI 2006-2007 SEASON
In the 2006–07 season, Messi established himself as a regular first team player, scoring 14 times in 26 matches. On 12 November, in the game against Real Zaragoza, Messi suffered a broken metatarsal, ruling him out for three months. -
LIONEL MESSI 2006-2007 SEASON
Messi recuperated from his injury in Argentina, and his return to action came against Racing Santander on 11 February,where he came on as a second-half substitute -
LIONEL MESSI 2006-2007 SEASON
On 11 March, El Clásico saw Messi in top form, scoring a hat-trick to earn 10-man Barcelona a 3–3 draw, equalising three times, with the final equaliser coming in injury time.[41] In doing so he became the first player since Iván Zamorano (for Real Madrid in the 1994–95 season) to score a hat-trick in El Clásico.[42] Messi is also the youngest player ever to have scored in this fixture. Towards the end of the season he began finding the net more often; 11 of his 14 league goals for the season ca -
LIONEL MESSI 2007-2008 SEASON
After coming back from the injury Messi scored his last goal of 2007–08 season against Valencia on 4 May 2008 in a 6–0 win. When the season was over Messi managed to score 16 goals and assisted 13 times in all competition. -
LIONEL MESSI 2007-2008 SEASON
On 1 October 2008, during a Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk, Messi scored two goals during the last seven minutes, after coming on as a substitute for Thierry Henry, to turn a 1–0 deficit to a 2–1 victory for Barcelona -
LIONEL MESSI 2008
On 13 December 2008, during the first Clásico of the season, Messi scored the second goal in Barcelona's 2–0 win over Real Madrid.[63] He was also named second in the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year awards with 678 points.[9] -
LIONEL MESSI 2009 MADRID
Messi scored his first hat-trick of 2009 in a Copa del Rey tie against Atlético Madrid which Barcelona won 3–1.[64] Messi scored another important double on 1 February 2009, coming on as a second half substitute to help Barcelona defeat Racing Santander 1–2 after being 1–0 down. The second of the two strikes was Barcelona's 5000th league goal.[65] In the 28th round of La Liga, Messi scored his 30th goal of the season in all competitions, helping his team to a 6–0 victory over Málaga CF in the pr -
LIONEL MESSI BARCELONAS´S SEASON
As Barcelona's season was drawing to a close, Messi scored twice (his 35th and 36th goals in all competitions) to cap a 6–2 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu in what was Real's heaviest defeat since 1930. After scoring each goal, he ran towards the fans and the cameras lifting up his Barcelona jersey and showing another T-shirt that read Síndrome X Fràgil, Catalan for Fragile X Syndrome, to show his support for children who suffer from the affliction. Messi was involved -
LIONEL MESSI 8 APRIL 2009
On 8 April 2009, he scored twice against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, setting a personal record of eight goals in the competition. On 18 April, Messi notched his 20th league goal of the season in a 1–0 win at Getafe, allowing Barcelona to maintain their six-point advantage at the top of the league table over Real Madrid. -
LIONEL MESSI COPA DEL REY
He won his first Copa del Rey on 13 May, scoring one goal and assisting another two, in a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao He helped his team win the double by winning La Liga. -
LIONEL MESSI
On 27 May he helped Barcelona win the Champions League by scoring a second goal in the 70th minute giving Barcelona a two goal lead; he also became the top scorer in the Champions League, the youngest in the tournament's history, with nine goals.[73] Messi also won the UEFA Club Forward of the Year: and the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year rounding off a spectacular year in Europe.[74] This victory meant Barcelona had won the Copa del Rey, La Liga and Champions League in the one season,[75] and -
LIONEL MESSI
On 18 September, Messi signed a new contract with Barcelona, running until 2016 and with a buy-out clause of €250 million included, making Messi, along with Zlatan Ibrahimović, the highest paid players in La Liga, with earnings of around €9.5 million yearly. -
LIONEL MESSI LA LIGA
Four days later, on 22 September, Messi scored two goals and assisted another in Barça's 4–1 win over Racing Santander in La Liga. He scored his first European goal of the season on 29 September in a 2–0 win over Dynamo Kyiv and then took his goal tally to six goals in seven games in La Liga with a strike during a 6–1 routing of Real Zaragoza at Camp Nou. 22
TEMBER -
LIONEL MESSI BALLON D OR
Messi was named winner of the 2009 Ballon d'Or on 1 December 2009, beating runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo by largest ever margin of 473 to 233. Afterwards, France Football magazine quoted Messi as saying: "I dedicate it to my family. They were always present when I needed them and sometimes felt even stronger emotions than me." -
LIONEL MESSI WORLD CUP ABU DHABI
On 19 December, Messi scored the winner in the final of the 2009 Club World Cup against Estudiantes in Abu Dhabi, giving the club their sixth title of the year. Two days later, he was given the FIFA World Player of the Year award, beating Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Kaká and Andrés Iniesta to the award. This was the first time he had won the award, and he became the first Argentinean to ever receive this honour. -
LIONEL MESSI FIRST HAT-TRICK
On 10 January 2010, Messi scored his first hat-trick in 2010 and his first hat-trick of the season against CD Tenerife in the 0–5 victory, and on 17 January he scored his 100th goal for the club in the 4–0 victory over Sevilla. -
LIONEL MESSI OSASUNA
He played his 200th official match for Barcelona against Osasuna on 24 March 2010 -
LIONEL MESSI SINGLE MATCH
On 6 April 2010, for the first time in Messi's career he scored four goals in a single match, netting the lot in a 4–1 home win over Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final second leg.This also saw him overtake Rivaldo as Barcelona's all time greatest scorer in the competition -
LIONEL MESSI 40TH GOAL
On 10 April, Messi scored his 40th goal of the season when he netted the first goal in a 2–0 away win against title-rivals Real Madrid in El Clásico -
LIONEL MESSI VILLAREAL
On 1 May, Messi played his 50th game of the season and scored two goals on a 4–1 away win against Villarreal. -
LIONEL MESSI TENERIFE
Just three days later, on 4 May, Messi scored two goals in another 4–1 win at home against Tenerife -
LIONEL MESSI HIS 32ND GOAL OF THE LIGA
Messi scored his 32nd goal of the La Liga season on 8 May, during an away win against Sevilla, and in the final match against Valladolid, he scored two goals in the second half to tie Ronaldo's club record of 34 goals in a single league season, set in 1996–97, and to finish four goals behind the all-time record held by Telmo Zarra -
LIONEL MESSI LA LIGA PLAYER
He was named La Liga player of the year for the second year in a row on 3 June 2010. -
LIONEL MESSI VICTORYOVER SEVILLA FC
On 21 August 2010, Messi scored a hat-trick in his first start of the season in a 4–0 victory over Sevilla FC in the Supercopa de España, helping Barcelona secure their first trophy of the season after a 1–3 first leg loss -
LIONEL MESSI RACING SANTANDER
He also began his league season with a goal, scoring after just three minutes against Racing Santander on 29 August 2010. He then continued his excellent form into the UEFA Champions League group stage match against Panathinaikos where he scored two goals, assisted another two and also hit the frame of the goal on two separate occasions. -
LIONEL MESSI SUFFERED AN ANKLE INJURY
On 19 September 2010, Messi suffered an ankle injury due to an ill-advised tackle by Atlético Madrid defender Tomáš Ujfaluši in the 92nd minute of their Round 3 match at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. At first sight it was feared that Messi suffered a broken ankle that could have kept the star player away from the pitch for a minimum of six months, but MRI performed the next day in Barcelona showed he suffered a sprain in the internal and external ligaments of his right ankle.[114] Team-mate Davi -
LIONEL MESSI (SIN FECHA ESPECÍFICA)
On 19 September 2010, Messi suffered an ankle injury due to an ill-advised tackle by Atlético Madrid defender Tomáš Ujfaluši in the 92nd minute of their Round 3 match at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. At first sight it was feared that Messi suffered a broken ankle that could have kept the star player away from the pitch for a minimum of six months, but MRI performed the next day in Barcelona showed he suffered a sprain in the internal and external ligaments of his right ankle.[114] Team-mate Davi -
LIONEL MESSI UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
On 8 March, Messi scored two goals against Arsenal in a UEFA Champions League match at the Camp Nou, helping Barcelona win 3–1 and qualify to the quarter-finals of the competition. After failing to score for a month he scored a brace against Almería; the second goal was his 47th of the season, equalling his club record return of the previous season. -
LIONEL MESSI SHAKHTAR DONETSK
He surpassed his record on 12 April 2011 by scoring the winner against Shakhtar Donetsk in a UEFA Champions League game, which put him in the record book as all time top scorer in a single season for Barcelona. He scored his eight goal on El Clásico on a 1–1 tie at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium -
LIONEL MESSI HIS 59TH GOAL
On 23 April, Messi scored his 50th goal of the season against Osasuna in a 2–0 home victory which he came on as a substitute in the 60th minute.
In the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals he gave a memorable performance, scoring twice against Real Madrid in a 2–0 win, the second goal (a dribble past several players) being acclaimed as one of the best ever at that stage of the competition.]In the UEFA Champions League Finals at Wembley, Messi scored the eventual game-cli
