Lionel Messi names three toughest goalkeepers he has ever faced

The Argentine has come against many top goalies in his playing career.

There was just one noteworthy benefit of playing against Lionel Messi as the opposing goalkeeper. What benefit are talking about? Well, when the renowned Argentine scored his 644th goal for Barcelona in 2020, setting a record for the greatest number of goals scored for a single club, Budweiser partnered with him to send a bottle to every goalkeeper he had faced. That’s the sole benefit that came for standing as an opposition goalie to Messi.

During the festive campaign, 160 goalkeepers were made to reminisce about their meetings with Messi. Diego Alves, a former Brazil and Valencia goalie, was “rewarded” with the most bottles—21 in all. But few keepers have been able to enjoy the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner’s challenge.

By 2019, Messi had just won his tenth LaLiga championship and was enjoying a fantastic Barcelona career. The brilliant player, who was already being discussed as the greatest football player of all time, had won four Champions League championships, three UEFA Super Cups, and three Club World Cups by that time.

Naturally, his responses to such questions may have evolved somewhat since then because he has added two Ligue 1 titles while playing for PSG, a Leagues Cup for Inter Miami, and two Copa Americas and a World Cup with Argentina. Few, though, could contest his original choices, as the Argentine stated:

”The best goalkeeper? I played against many, but to choose one specifically I would say [Gianluigi] Buffon, and [Manuel] Neuer…I don’t know there’s so many but they are two of the best. Also [Iker] Casillas.”

Throughout his career, Messi has faced all three of the goalkeepers he listed, but none more so than Casillas, with whom he established a bitter rivalry because of his affiliation with Real Madrid. In LaLiga, domestic cup tournaments, and the Champions League, the two have shared the field more than 40 times in El Clasico matches.

Messi has also had his share of tit-for-tat encounters with Buffon. They competed in multiple qualifying rounds for the Champions League, including a final where Barcelona won. Meanwhile, Messi faced German icon Neuer in two European competitions and a World Cup final, where he suffered one of his infrequent final losses after Mario Gotze scored in the 114th minute of the 2014 final.

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