Debunking a Myth: Messi did nothing in the 2005/06 UCL

Some of Messi's doubters think that Messi's performance in the 2005/06 UCL was minimal, but in this entry, I'll prove he did a good job and was an important piece of the team.

In his debut against Werder Bremen, the second-best team in Germany behind Bayern Munich, he won a penalty which consolidated Barcelona's lead from 1-0 to 2-0. Later in the 4-1 win against Udinese, the best team in Italy after Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan, Messi made an amazing run from the defensive 1/3rd of the pitch all the way to close to the box where he won a foul, which Ronaldinho converted, and for the second goal, he made a tackle that lead to the play of that goal. He almost got an assist too, but Eto'o failed the 1-on-1, and there was a penalty on him not given as well. Against Panathinaikos away, he made a great pass to Eto'o but he couldn't put it inside the net. His final game in the group stage was against Panathinaikos at home, he took the mark from Nilsson which allowed for Barça's second goal, got a goal annulled, later scored the 3rd goal, pre-assisted the 4th goal, and assisted the 5th goal, an amazing performance form him.

In the knockouts, Barcelona had to face Chelsea, perhaps the best team in the world at that moment. They had also been kicked out in the last UCL by Chelsea, where Messi didn't participate. In the first leg at Stamford Bridge, his incredible game was enough to give Barcelona the victory, one of his highlights being receiving a red-card foul from Del Horno that changed the game. In the same game, Del Horno could have received a red card earlier for a horrific foul on Messi, and Messi could have won a penalty for a foul from Terry. He also hit the woodwork. He was hailed by important media for his performance. In the second leg, he, unfortunately, got injured, which sidelined him for the rest of the season, but it doesn't invalidate the fact that he was one of their best players both in the group stage and in the important R16 series against their toughest opponent in that run.

Clearly, Messi was an important piece in Barcelona's early road to the 2005/06 UCL, and even in the knockouts against the strongest team he was the best player. Therefore, Messi has 4 UCLs, being an important piece in all of them (and best player in the last 3).