prior to Wednesday night's Camp Nou clash in
Europe, but has now struck eight in eight
against the Rossoneri in just over two years
By Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Writer
Lionel Messi has now scored more goals
for Barcelona versus AC Milan than against any
other team in the Champions League.
Messi scored twice in the Camp Nou clash on
Wednesday night, which Barca won 3-1, to
take his tally to eight goals in as many games
against the Italian side.
The Argentine had failed to net in his previous
three matches, but converted from the penalty
spot in the first half and added another late in
the game after he was set up by Cesc Fabregas
and went on to beat Christian Abbiati with a
fine finish.
Leo now has six goals in the Champions League
this term (having missed the trip to Celtic
through injury) and 65 in all in Europe's
premier club competition, leaving him just six
adrift of the tournament's all-time top scorer:
Raul.
And eight of those have come against Milan.
Messi failed to net in the 2-2 draw at Camp
Nou back in September, 2011 but did convert
a penalty in the 3-2 win at San Siro in a second
group game in November of that year. The two
teams then met again in the quarter-finals and
the Argentine netted two more from the spot
in Barcelona following a goalless game in Italy.
The Catalans lost 2-0 in Milan last season in
the first leg of the teams' last-16 tie, but Messi
struck twice (his first from open play against
the Rossoneri) in a remarkable 4-0 turnaround
in March. He then added another at San Siro
last month (his only goal in October), before
Wednesday's double made it eight from eight.
Previously, Messi's biggest 'victims' in the
Champions League were Bayer Leverkusen (six
in just two games) and Arsenal (six in four) and
the Rossoneri (six in seven).
Milan now have that dubious honour outright,
however, although the Italians can console
themselves that at least it has taken Leo eight
games to reach the figure, while half of the
goals have come from the penalty spot.
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