Lionel Messi made his first start for Inter Miami CF on Tuesday and, having assumed the role of captain, lived up to the armband as his new team ran out 4-0 winners over fellow MLS side Atlanta United in the group stage of the Leagues Cup.
Messi scored two first-half goals, taking his individual tally to three goals in two games for Miami, as well setting up another. With his brace at DRV PNK Stadium, the veteran maestro hit the back of the net against the 100th different club of his long and distinguished career.
A joy to watch-unless you’re a defender.
Rewind all of Messi’s moments from a two-goal, one-assist showing against Atlanta in @LeaguesCup action. pic.twitter.com/MxkGHjIDAf
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 26, 2023
Atlanta now join a catalogue of clubs that Messi has scored against, which began against Albacete at the end of the 2004-05 season. Just 17 at the time, Messi came off the Barcelona bench in the 87th minute, received a cute pass from Ronaldinho and quickly lofted a shot over the advancing goalkeeper to score his first senior goal.
Now at age 36, after scoring hundreds of goals in LaLiga for Barcelona, Ligue 1 for Paris Saint-Germain, for both clubs in the UEFA Champions League and now North America, the legendary Argentina forward has brought up his century.
Here are the 100 clubs that Messi has now scored against during his 20-year club career, grouped by the total amount of goals he has scored against each.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
1 goal
G⚽️L DEL DÍA
Un día como hoy en 2005…
🆚 Albacete
Messi marcó su primer gol oficial con el Barça 💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/7sDNMe5uiX— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) May 1, 2021
Albacete, Ajaccio, Angers, Benfica, Benidorm, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Monchengladbach, Cadiz, Ceuta, Cruz Azul, Estudiantes, Ferencvaros, Lorient, Marseille, Napoli, Olympiakos, Porto, River Plate, Rangers, Sporting CP, Strasbourg, Troyes, Toulouse, Werder Bremen
Buried among the cavalcade of teams to have conceded just once against Messi are Albacete, who have the distinction of being the very first club to witness the young prodigy’s greatness back in 2005.
2 goals
Atlanta United, Basel, BATE Borisov, Clermont Foot, Club Bruges, Gimnastic, Hercules, Lens, Liverpool, Nice, Numancia, Roma, RB Leipzig, Santos, Tottenham Hotspur
3 goals
APOEL, Chelsea, Copenhagen, Dynamo Kyiv, Huelva, Juventus, Lille, Maccabi Haifa, Montpellier, Nantes, Shakhtar Donetsk, Stuttgart, Viktoria Plzen
4 goals
🗣️ Guardiola: “Lionel is the best player I have ever seen, probably the best player I will see.”
🔵🔴 Messi masterclass in 2011 final at Wembley…#UCL | @FCBarcelona pic.twitter.com/mvLApdjcjg
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) January 19, 2021
Bayern Munich, Girona, Huesca, Las Palmas, Manchester United, Panathinaikos, PSV Eindhoven, Spartak Moscow
Messi’s four goals against Manchester United include strikes in two different Champions League finals — the 2-0 win in Rome in 2009 and the 3-1 victory at Wembley two years later.
5 goals
Tenerife
6 goals
Memories of Barcelona 🆚 Paris… 😲
What will happen this time?#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/B4TOdDeHkH
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 14, 2020
Ajax, Cordoba, Lyon, Paris Saint-Germain, Sporting Gijon
Paris Saint-Germain are the only of Messi’s former clubs to also appear on the list of teams he’s scored against. He registered six goals during his Champions League exploits with Barca prior to signing for the French giants in August 2021. One of those six strikes against PSG came in that famous “
7 goals
Bayer Leverkusen, Elche, Manchester City
8 goals
AC Milan, Celtic, Real Valladolid
9 goals
Arsenal
🙌 Messi fired FOUR past Arsenal #OnThisDay in 2010!
⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️#UCL pic.twitter.com/7qm4ypTcqf
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 6, 2019
The highest non-Spanish team on the list, Arsenal have conceded nine goals against Messi alone during the past two decades. That total includes four in one game during the 2009-10 Champions League quarterfinals. The Barca star scored all four goals in a 4-1 second leg victory that sealed a 6-3 aggregate romp for the Catalans.
11 goals
Leganes
12 goals
Racing Santander
13 goals
Alaves, Almeria, Malaga
14 goals
Celta Vigo, Real Zaragoza
15 goals
Granada
16 goals
Mallorca
17 goals
Villarreal
18 goals
Rayo Vallecano, Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad became 46th opponents to have their resolve broken by Messi. They were also the team he faced when he broke Barcelona’s appearance record in March 2021, further icing the cake on the day by scoring two goals in a 6-1 thrashing.
20 goals
Deportivo la Coruna, Eibar
21 goals
Getafe
24 goals
Levante
25 goals
Espanyol, Osasuna
26 goals
5 years ago today, Lionel Messi held up his shirt to the Real Madrid crowd after scoring a stoppage-time winner in El Clasico.
Iconic 👕 pic.twitter.com/MFa1VNRMJK
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 23, 2022
Real Betis, Real Madrid
Messi came up against the old enemy Real Madrid 47 times during his Barca career and scored 26 Clasico goals in that time: 18 goals in LaLiga, six in the Spanish Supercopa and two in the Champions League. Arguably his most enduring moment against Real was his stoppage-time winner in 2017, which he celebrated by hoisting his own jersey aloft to defiantly present it to the Bernabeu crowd.
29 goals
Athletic Club
30 goals
#OnThisDay 🔟 years ago…
✅ 3-0 win for @FCBarcelona.
✅ Messi hat-trick. #LaLigaHistory pic.twitter.com/1iJzvCCL5p— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) March 14, 2020
Valencia
Messi has scored four hat tricks against Valencia — including this outstanding treble in 2010 — which is more than against any other club.
32 goals
Atletico Madrid
38 goals
¡G⚽L DEL DÍA!
🤯 Messi 🆚 Sevilla pic.twitter.com/OTxh3Yu5G1— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) July 10, 2020
Sevilla
No team has suffered more at the hands (or should that be the feet?) of Messi than Sevilla, who have conceded more of his goals that any other club — and by a fair margin.
Indeed, Messi only faced Sevilla 43 times in all competitions with Barca and yet still helped himself to 38 goals (and 20 assists.)
This goal, which features Messi nutmegging a defender and chipping the goalkeeper, might just be the pick of the bunch.