Lionel Messi has scored a lot of great goals, with a lot of them coming against EL Clasico rivals Real Madrid.
The Barcelona icon has scored 27 goals and grabbed 14 assists in 45 matches against Los Blancos to date, which isn't that bad when Real Madrid have been one of the best sides in the world for pretty much the entirety of his career.
A few in particular may be remembered slightly more than the rest though, and one of those is certainly his incredible solo effort in 2011.
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At what was possibly the peak of El Clasico, when Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola were going head-to-head for pretty much every competition available, Messi set alight a tight match between the pair in the Champions League semi-final first leg.
Pepe, in classic fashion, had managed to get himself sent off after just over an hour, and Mourinho quickly followed him, also in classic fashion, for protesting that decision.
That transformed what had been a close match until that point, with Messi netting from a Ibrahim Affelay (remember him?) cross in the 76th minute to put Barcelona ahead.
However, it was what happened abour ten minutes later that really shocked the Bernabeu.
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Sergio Busquets casually rolled the ball to Messi with the entire Real Madrid defence in front of him - which would turn out to be an excellent move and frankly incredible assist.
Then, cue Messi taking it past three players before rolling it past Iker Casillas as Sergio Ramos desperately chased after him.
This second away goal put Barcelona well in control of the tie, and a 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp a week later put them through to the final at Wembley - where they took apart Manchester United.
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Is this one of Messi's best ever goals?
Topics: Football News, Football, El Clasico, Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Real Madrid
