Lionel Messi and his Paris Saint-Germain team crashed out of the UEFA Champions League 2022-23 season after suffering a 2-0 loss (3-0 aggregate) against Bayern Munich in the second-leg of the Round of 16 clash.
This means the Argentine will have to wait another year before he aims to get his hands on Europe’s most coveted football title. Messi has won four Champions League titles throughout his illustrious career and is one behind rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
When did Messi last win the Champions League title?
Messi last won the Champions League in the 2014-15 season, when Luis Enrique was in charge of Barcelona. Playing along with Neymar and Luis Suarez, popularly known as the MSN trio, Barcelona clinched a 3-1 win against Juventus to win the title. Messi was the joint top-scorer in the UCL with 10 goals along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar. Messi also topped the assists list with six assists that year.
Messi last won the Champions Leaue in 2015. | Photo Credit: AP
2015-16 season
Following the success the previous year, Barcelona met Spanish rival Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals. Messi and his Barcelona team were eliminated after a 3-2 loss on aggregate score. Barca won the first-leg 2-1 but suffered a 2-0 loss in the second leg.
That season, Messi scored six goals and bagged one assist in the Champions League in seven appearances.
2016-17 season
It was in this season that Messi and his Barca team completed that famous ‘ remontada’ (comeback) against PSG in the Round of 16, where the Catalans scored six goals in the second leg to win 6-5 on aggregate.
Barcelona was drawn with Juventus in the quarterfinals but was swept away by an aggregate loss of 3-0 over two legs.
Messi ranked second in the scoring chart with 11 goals and had two assists in nine matches that season.
2017-18 season
It was a heartbreaking exit for Messi and Barcelona in the 2017-18 season. Paired against Roma in the quarterfinals, the Catalans had one foot in the semis after winning 4-1 in the first leg but a second leg collapse saw Roma score three goals and qualify on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate score.
That season Messi scored six goals and had two assists in 10 appearances.
Messi reacts after a 4-0 loss to Liverpool in 2018-19. | Photo Credit: AP
2018-19 season
It was a story of another second-leg collapse for Messi and his Barca team. Playing Liverpool in the semifinals, Barca clinched a 3-0 win in the first leg at Camp Nou, but Liverpool turned the tide in the second leg with a stunning 4-0 win at Anfield, thus qualifying 4-3 on aggregate and leaving Messi with yet another Champions League heartbreak.
On the personal front, it was a good season for Messi as he topped the scoring charts with 12 goals, along with three assists in 10 matches.
2019-20 season
That season, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, UEFA announced that knockout matches would be played over a single leg instead of the usual two. Paired against Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals, Barcelona suffered a humiliating 2-8 defeat against the Bavarians.
That season, Messi scored three goals and bagged four assists in eight appearances.
Messi suffered one of his most humilating defeats in a 8-2 loss to Bayern. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
2020-21 season
In Messi’s last season for Barcelona, he could only reach the Round of 16, where Barcelona suffered a 2-5 aggregate loss against PSG.
Messi scored five goals and had two assists in six games.
2021-22 season
In his first season with PSG, Messi qualified for the UCL Round of 16, where he faced long-time rival Real Madrid in the Round of 16 stage. It was not a happy return to Spain as Messi saw his PSG side suffer a 2-3 loss on aggregate, which prolonged the Argentine’s wait for another Champions League title.
Messi scored five goals in seven matches in the competition that season.
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