The Stories Behind Lionel Messi's Top 5 Barcelona Goals

Lionel Messi has 500 goals for Barcelona.

Don't let the enormity of that pass by: One of the most historic clubs in the world, with a history littered with incredible players, and the greatest of them all has reached the improbable haul of 500 strikes beating goalkeepers in competitive action, 500 celebrations, 500 moments where he reminded fans just how good he was, is and continues to be. And to do it against archrivals Real Madrid probably makes it sweeter for the Argentina superstar.

How to pick a favourite, a best goal from 500? How to describe exactly how good they were, what they made onlookers feel and experience?

We've selected just the finest 1 percent—Messi's top five—and gotten the eyewitness accounts to explain why they made Messi...Messi.

But before you get to relive the moments from the people who were there, here they are in all their animated glory.

5. vs. Athletic Club, April 27, 2013

A goal from La Liga to start with, one which sent the fans wild—and left the BeIN commentary team of Phil Schoen and Ray Hudson not much less enthused.

For Schoen, Messi's effort which tore apart Athletic Club's defence was, if not an inevitability, certainly on the cards as soon as he took his first touch. Some players transcend common sense in football, and Messi is one of them.

"A fraction of a second after Thiago gave him the ball, Athletic had built a wall around Messi," Schoen said. "It looked impenetrable, but just the way he shapes up, you know he's about to do something special. Some players have an ability to be calm and see the game in slow motion and there's no better example for Messi than this goal. The world spins for everyone else, but he sees clearly."

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Messi left a crowd of defenders trailing in his wake before scoring, but not before having to fight for his balance, force himself to stay upright and continue the dribble.

It's one of the defining traits of the No. 10, said Schoen. "Some might go down, take the penalty, and not even as an easy route out but just because they've been fouled. But Messi refuses; his personality is to keep going, it's his will."

Great goals tend to lead to big celebrations among the spectators. But the co-commentator? Hudson, sat alongside Schoen, is somewhat infamous for his elaborate descriptions and wordplay, but even by his standards the exclamations over Messi's finish were extreme.

"Sometimes it takes a Hudson, someone so expressive, to capture the joy and creativity which someone like Messi provides," said Schoen.

It's a relevant point. If the genius on show can bring thousands to their feet, why wouldn't it raise a professional voice or two as well?

4. vs. Real Madrid, April 27, 2011

We've selected the goals based on their individual merits, not simply due to what they meant, but when both come together it can be even more special.

Champions League, semi-final, Real Madrid. Lionel Messi.

Fan Jose Antonio Sanchez Llamas has been a matchday-goer for two decades with Barcelona, but for quality meeting emotion and importance, it's the strike in Europe which resonates most with the impact Messi has made—not just in Catalunya, but in world football.

"The best players perform on the best stage, and to help beat the eternal rivals in a key game...that shows how special he is," Sanchez said. "Messi doesn't just score against small teams like some big names; he's there whenever Barca need him most, in the games everyone remembers."

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

Messi notched twice that night against Los Blancos, with very different goals—but that's the point, said Sanchez. "You can't stop him doing the simple things, and even if you do he can still take on everybody in the team. Put two men on him and he takes them both on, but let him run free and he won't miss inside the penalty box.

"Not every great player can have a place among the historical best, but Messi is assured of his."

And being in the stadium for that goal?

"Incredible. So emotional, not to just have a small lead but the relief, the expectation...it all came together in that celebration. Real were trying to kick (Barca's players), trying to stop (them playing), but it didn't matter, because Messi."

3. vs. Athletic Club, May 30, 2015

Messi loves the Copa del Rey. He's already won it four times, and his side are in the final once again this season, where they will face Alaves. The chances of Messi scoring in the final are likely pretty good—he does average a goal every 83 minutes this season, after all—but the chances of it being his best Copa final goal are remote.

Not because he's not capable, but because he has already found the net in incredible fashion in such a game, in 2015 against Athletic Club.

With the score locked at 0-0 at the Camp Nou, where the final was held with Barca as the designated away side, Messi clicked into gear on the right wing.

Spanish-based journalist Rik Sharma was there, covering the final for the Mirror.

"Often when you're working at the game, you react to the crowd," Sharma said. "You look up and something is already happening, or has happened. Luckily that wasn't the case this time: I was watching Messi from close to where he picked it up on the flank and with every step, the crowd got more excited.

"It can often get electric at Camp Nou when Messi starts to run. This time he sprinted, stopped and immediately set off again in that manner he has. Even by the time he runs past the third man, he's still not really in a position to shoot for goal...then he takes that one step to the left.

"That was incredible. It gave him a tiny angle to aim for and he found it."

Messi doesn't need much room, as he can create it himself—that much we know, and see time and time again. Whether the No. 10 shoots himself or tees up a team-mate at the end of a dribble, attracting defenders to him and beating them is simply what he does. Taking possession at the start of the move for the goal, the Athletic approach is visible: two men stuck close to Messi, and a third as back-up just behind.

None got a touch, neither of the ball nor of the man they were prepared to stop at all costs. The commentary, the celebration, the reaction of the fans: It all pointed to something very special on show.

"That was one of the loudest times I've ever heard the Camp Nou," Sharma recalled. "I remember thinking: 'Is it one of the best in the Copa del Rey? Actually, it's just one of the best goals.'

"In terms of technique, the dribble, it's the best goal I've seen—but it's just down to Messi making the right decision, time after time. He didn't know he was going to score that goal.

"Everyone was stunned in the press box—obviously the Barcelona fans were going crazy, but we realised we'd just witnessed one of the best goals ever scored in a football game."

He went on to score again in what was an eventual 3-1 win, and where finals are at times named after those who shine brightest in them, there's little doubt that this one was the Messi final.

2. vs. Real Zaragoza, March 21, 2010

Picking a greatest single goal might be subjective, but there came a point when fans must have realised that a certain type of goal summed up Messi. Perhaps that moment came against Real Zaragoza.

Rob Palmer, Sky Sports' Spanish football commentator, was describing the game in question and recalled just what a defining moment it was:

"Every week he was building on his reputation and outshining the others; the shadow of Ronaldinho had gone but Zlatan Ibrahimovic was there and Messi just kept getting better.

"He scored that goal and I turned to [co-commentator] Gerry Armstrong, who had played in the era of some of the greats and was a friend of George Best, and said Messi was right up there with them, [Johan] Cruyff and all. I half-expected a rebuttal but he agreed Messi was among the best."

The reaction around the ground jumps up a notch when Messi takes possession.

Jasper Juinen/Getty Images

From a professional perspective, he's one of the few players who breaks the rules when calling the plays in-game, and Palmer acknowledged that the goal against Zaragoza proved why.

"Usually you commentate box-to-box: 20-or-so yards outside the box, focus on what's happening," Palmer said. "In the middle third, that's the time for stats and stories. But with Messi, as it was with the Brazilian Ronaldo, it's different—even from five yards inside the attacking half, he can make things happen.

"The goal came around the period for Messi to show whether he was merely a very high-quality young player or truly going on to be one of the greats. That was a defining goal for him, taking him from very good into another sphere entirely, better than anything in the world.

"Barca had sent over a few crosses just before the goal and Messi was looking frustrated, so he went hunting. It's all individualistic once he's off and running, sliding through the gears, but he created the goal himself out of nothing, winning the tackle and then setting off.

"It was a perfect goal for him and, thankfully, it was one of those few times in commentary where you say everything right and it goes right on the pitch. That goal, and Ronaldo's [for Barcelona against Compostela] are the two best I've commentated on."

It's fitting that one of Messi's greatest goals is measured against another legend of the game, but the Argentinian's standing has long since eclipsed that of the Brazilian striker. As Palmer put it: "In the Camp Nou, a stadium that's seen everything, with that goal he exceeded them all."

1. vs. Getafe, April 18, 2007

The finest of them all, from perhaps the finest of them all.

It's easy to make the comparisons between Diego Maradona and Messi—people have been doing it almost since he became a Barca regular—but this goal, above all others, escalated that discussion.

Twenty-one years after the Argentinian demigod decimated England en route to lifting the World Cup, Messi did the same to Getafe in the Copa del Rey semi-finals, slaloming his way past challenge after challenge, rounding the goalkeeper and scoring one of the greatest goals in Spanish football history.

Just under 55,000 people were in the Camp Nou that evening to see a 5-2 first-leg victory for Barcelona, with Messi scoring twice—another similarity to Maradona in that game against England, as it happens.

Angel Perez was one of them, reporting on the match for Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo.

"When he picked up the ball, you never thought it was going to end up as a goal," Perez said. "Even when he escaped the first challenge, a kid that young...but then he just kept going, kept getting closer and you started to believe he actually could score."

Messi took on five players, all told, with at least one of the quintet trying more than once to launch a tackle in—but the 19-year-old was unstoppable.

Bagu Blanco/Getty Images

Perez insists that appreciation for this creation, this work of art the teenager had on show, couldn't just be limited to a single aspect of his game, rather that it required everything to happen.

"In one phase of play he shows so many skills: velocity, explosive acceleration, close control, one-on-one dribbling ability...everything," Perez said. "In one moment he showed everything that makes up Messi, and that is everything.

"It's important to note also that the move, the run, the goal...it started with him. The defenders were like statues before him once he started running, but he had to show that aggression and tenacity to evade the first tackles which came as he received possession.

"Skill and speed came after, but without that first show of determination, the goal doesn't happen."

The one difference between Messi's and Maradona's? The outcome. While Diego went on to the World Cup final and lifted the trophy, Lionel's brace ultimately counted for nothing. Getafe mounted an improbable comeback in the second leg, winning 4-0 to progress to the Copa final (6-5 on aggregate), where they lost, 1-0, to Sevilla.

Does it matter?

Perez thinks not. "You take these goals on their merit, on the moment."

We're inclined to agree. Football is all about the individual moments, the incredible, instantaneous uplift in emotion which comes with the full-time whistle, or with the ball crossing the line.

Messi has given 500 of those moments to Barcelona fans already, and his wondrous, unforgettable, scintillating solo strike against Getafe was the best of them all.

With thanks to Phil, Rob, Rik, Angel and Jose Antonio. Quotes obtained first-hand unless stated.