Man United vs Barcelona: Lionel Messi’s Record Against English Opposition

Lionel Messi’s Barcelona will yet again face another English side in the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

The Argentine who has had an impressive run and records against the English clubs will be up against new-look Manchester United under the tutelage of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford.

It will be the toughest test for the newly signed manager as he will be having lots of works going on his head on how to tame ‘Lion’ in red and blue.

However, It will be the second time Lionel Messi will play against United at their stadium and the fifth time he will take them on during his glittering career.

Messi’s record against English clubs was criticised sometimes ago but the 31-year-old has taken on English clubs 30 times over the past 13 years, scoring an impressive 22 goals and setting up six more.

Only four of those games and two of those goals have come against United – he scored in both the 2009 and 2011 finals, being named the man of the match in the latter.

His previous club appearance at Old Trafford was a 1-0 defeat in the second leg of the 2008 semi-final after the first leg had ended goalless. He also played in a 1-0 friendly defeat for Argentina against Portugal at the ground in 2014.

United can take heart from the fact Messi’s stats in England are not as good as his stats in Spain against English opposition.

Messi has scored 13 goals in 14 games at the Nou Camp, but just seven goals in 14 away games on English turf – eight in 15 if you include the 2011 final at Wembley.

Arsenal has the worst record of any English club against Messi conceding nine goals in six games against him, while Chelsea’s is the most impressive. They have only let in three goals in 10 games against the Argentine.

Messi has played Manchester City six times scoring six goals, including two in three games in Manchester. His record against Tottenham is two goals in two games, while in two clashes with Liverpool he has drawn a blank.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has already scored eight times in six Champions League games this season and found the back of the net in Barca’s 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid on Saturday to make it 43 goals in all competitions for the current campaign.

Messi’s record vs English teams