Lionel Messi's Top 20 Barcelona Goals (VIDEO)

You could hear José Mourinho cussing all the way from Madrid as a certain Barcelona player saved the day against Athletic Bilbao.

No surprise that it was Lionel Messi donning his superman cape.

At 24 years of age, he is just 33 goals away from overtaking César as Barcelona’s all-time leading goal-scorer.

César was 35 when he last played for Barcelona.

In tribute to Messi’s greatness, here are his top 20 goals.

If you believe a goal should be on the list, comment below with a YouTube link to the goal. 

Albacete (2005)

Lionel Messi came on as an 88th minute substitute and in the space of two minutes chipped Raúl Valbuena (a former Real Madrid Castilla goalkeeper) twice—the first being ruled offside but the second was official. 

Let's go on a trip down memory line revisiting Barcelona's starting XI against Albacete that day:

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Víctor Valdés, Juliano Belletti, Carles Puyol, Oleguer, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Andrés Iniesta, Rafael Márquez, Deco, Ludovic Giuly, Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho.

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• Valdés: Still Barcelona's number one. 

• Belletti: Retired this year. 

• Puyol: Debilitated by injuries though will continue to solider on. 

• Oleguer: Played seven games for Ajax last season but is now a free agent. May enter politics.

• van Bronckhorst: Retired in 2010. Currently Feyenoord's assistant manager behind former Barcelona player Ronald Koeman. 

• Iniesta: In his 10th season for the club. 

• Márquez: Enjoying life in the Big Apple with Thierry Henry. Márquez will serve a three game ban after doing his best impression of the UFC in the MLS play-offs. 

• Deco: Currently playing for Fluminense in Brazil.

• Giuly: Currently playing for Monaco in Ligue 2. 

• Eto'o: Raking in the cash for Anzhi Makhachkala. 

• Ronaldinho: Having fun in Flamengo. 

Real Valladolid (2010)

Lionel Messi made Sereno and Pedro López look like pub footballers. 

Osasuna (2009)

Lionel Messi showing that he doesn't always finish with finesse. 

Deportivo La Coruña (2011)

Daniel Aranzubia's reaction is priceless.

Villarreal (2011)

This isn't a particular amazing solo goal from Lionel Messi, more so an amazing Tiki-taka football from Barcelona. 

Osasuna (2011)

During this magical performance, Lionel Messi dedicated his goals to 10-year-old Soufian, who has two artificial legs. 

Messi even invited Soufian down to train with him and allowed the boy to keep the ball as a memento. 

Real Madrid (2007)

Not only did the goal complete Lionel Messi's hat trick, but it saved Barcelona from certain El Clásico defeat.

Remember Oleguer had been sent off in the 43rd minute. 

That 2006-2007 La Liga season was so thrilling with Levante, Real Betis, Athletic Bilbao and Celta de Vigo all attempting to avoid relegation on the final day. 

Then, of course, there was Barcelona and Real Madrid on the final day. 

Fabio Capello's men coming from a 1-0 deficit to win 3-1 Mallorca to clinch La Liga on a head-to-head advantage (both Real Madrid and Barcelona were tied for first). 

Stuttgart (2010)

Pause the video at 0:55.

Christian Träsch, Matthieu Delpierre, Stefano Celozzi and Zdravko Kuzmanović closed down (all well, even though they did) Lionel Messi, yet the Argentine still scored an amazing goal. 

Racing Santander (2009)

I wonder how much money Racing Santander owner Ahsan Ali Syed would fork out for Lionel Messi (can he even afford the Argentine genius?).

Just for your information, Syed is in the company of swindlers like Charles Ponzi and Bernie Madoff.

A week or so ago, the entire Santander board resigned, and to make matters worse, their manager Hector Cúper is under investigations for match-fixing.

This was an funny quote from Cantabria President Miguel Ángel Revilla talking about his experience with Syed:

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"He had never been to a match in his life. I am by his side in the directors box and I am dying with laughter. A defender gives the ball back to the keeper and he applauds like a maniac. He doesn't know anything about football."

 

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Manchester United (2009)

When Pelé was critiquing Lionel Messi for not being able to consistently score goals with his head, I thought well why not include a headed goal when it matters most—the UEFA Champions League final. 

Arsenal (2010)

I've decided to give you guys a treat—four goals in one video.

The first and third goals were brilliant. 

I'll leave you with Arsène Wenger's words about Lionel Messi:

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"He is the best player in the world by some distance. He's (like) a PlayStation. He can take advantage of every mistake we make.

Once he's on a run with the ball he's unstoppable, the only player who can change direction at such pace and be a threat."

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Atlético Madrid (2011)

Well you kind of expect pretty lackadaisical defending from Antonio Reyes (he is, after all, a striker), but Lionel Messi made Diego Godín, a talented defender, look amateurish.  

Probably didn't help Godín that he bumped into Mario Suárez, who was so mesmerised by Messi's skill that he lost all positional awareness. 

The defending may have been pretty poor in the game, and also the goalkeeping, but remember going into this game, Atlético Madrid had only conceded one goal in four games. 

Real Zaragoza (2010)

Look at Lionel Messi going mano-a-mano with Ander Herrera, schooling Jiří Jarošík, then taking Matteo Contini on a merry-go-round before clinically finishing with class.  

Valencia (2010)

If you were wondering why Pep Guardiola was in the stands, it was because he was serving a touchline ban.

The week before, he was sent to the stands after abusing referee Carlos Clos in a 2-2 draw against Almería.

Real Sociedad (2010)

You know what this goal reminds me of? A mini-version of Turkey ganging up on Denílson in the 2002 FIFA World Cup semi-finals. 

Of course, Denílson went nowhere, whereas Lionel Messi looked as if he was veering wider of the goal but still scored. 

Almería (2010)

Outrageous...

Tenerife (2010)

I can tell Lionel Messi has been watching some of former Barcelona player Gheorghe Hagi's career highlights. 

Real Madrid (2011)

For me, if Pepe was on the field, Lionel Messi would not have scored his first goal, let alone his amazing second goal. 

It's no coincidence that as soon as Pepe wasn't on the field, Messi started exerting his dominance. 

Getafe (2007)

After this goal, the Diego Maradona comparisons went into overdrive. 

Oh...and Lionel Messi's handball goal against Espanyol would have helped the comparisons.

Talking about that goal, I don't think I'll ever forget Carlos Kameni (who still plays for Espanyol) sprinting towards the assistant referee then changing directions, because his teammates were already surrounding the assistant referee, to protest towards the referee.  

This was Messi's 19th goal for Barcelona, at the time he was wearing No. 19 and this is the 19th slide of Messi's best 19 goals.   

Lionel Messi vs. Pelé

Since Pelé has been reminding everyone how great he is and how not-so-great Lionel Messi, I'll opine on the matter. 

I find Pelé's attacks on Messi a sign of how insecure the Brazilian is with his legacy as the greatest of all-time. 

I'm sure that took a dive when FIFA had to award a joint Player of the Century award to both him and Diego Maradona. 

There is no question, Pelé was a better player than Maradona. 

I'll tell you why Pelé is so worried. 

Football researchers, and probably Pelé himself, know his official record is 757 goals in 812 games at 0.93 goals per game.

If Messi starts scoring 60-80 goals per season from now on, that 757 goal record will be broken.

Mind you, Messi also needs to win at least two FIFA World Cups.

For more information, please read Mythbusting the 5 Biggest Misconceptions in the Pelé vs. Lionel Messi Debate.