“At 0–0 in Barcelona’s Champions League opener against Ferencváros, Messi calmly sends the goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot to break the deadlock and set up a 10/10 man-of-the-match display capped by his 116th goal in the competition.”
In Barcelona’s first Champions League group match after a league defeat, Messi steadies the campaign with a dominant 90-minute display, scoring from the spot and threading a trademark assist to lead a 5–1 rout of Ferencváros as man of the match.
Against seven-time European champions Milan in a tense quarter-final deadlock, Messi calmly sends the keeper the wrong way from the spot to launch Barcelona’s 3–1 win and quietly reach 50 goals in the Champions League.
With Barcelona needing four more goals in the historic 6–1 comeback, Messi calmly buries a high-pressure penalty to restore the lead at 2–1 against PSG, pushing the remontada back on course and taking his Champions League tally to 94.
With Argentina already ahead in their 2015 Copa América opener, Messi calmly sends the Paraguay keeper the wrong way from the spot to make it 2–0 and cap a hot scoring streak with his third goal in the competition and 458th of his career.
Against Bolivia in the 2021 Copa América group stage, Messi calmly sends the goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot to double Argentina’s lead, a composed conversion that also brings up both his 100th career penalty goal and his 75th for the national team.