The best performance in every UCL stage

To further consolidate the fact that Messi is the best UCL player of all times, I will dedicate this entry to Messi's best performance in each stage, which also happens to be the best in the competition's history. Without further ado, let's look at those performances.

First off is the group stage. His memorable performance against Manchester City in the 2016/17 season, getting a hat-trick, 1 assist, 1 big chance created, 1 penalty won (which Neymar missed), 5 dribbles, and 3 key passes.

Getting now into the knockout stages, Messi's re-poker against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2011/12 season is his best performance in the Ro16, getting 1 dribble and 1 key pass as well. He also happens to have the best goal-less UCL Ro16, dropping an assist, 10 dribbles, 5 key passes, and a memorable nutmeg on Milner against Manchester City in the 2014/15 season.

For the QF, he has his poker against Arsenal in the 2009/10 season, getting 5 dribbles and 2 key passes too.

In the semi-finals, we all remember his masterclass against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the 2010/11 season, not only getting two goals (one of them a work of art), but also 9 dribbles and 3 key passes. There's also his performance against Bayern Munich in the 2014/15 season, with 2 goals, 1 assist, 2 big chances created, 9 dribbles, and 4 key passes.

And for the final, there's his wonderful performance against Manchester United in the 2010/11 season, not only scoring a great outside-the-box shot but getting 10 dribbles and 4 key passes as well.

Clearly, there is a lot more to Messi in the UCL than what most see, and looking at these performances, you can tell that Messi is the one true king of the UCL.