The Life and Times of Lionel Messi Quiz

Answer: Pablo Aimar

Aimar was renowned for his technical ability and his creativity. Like Messi, Aimar was also known for his diminutive figure, standing at just 1.7 metres (5 ft 7). In 2002, a teenage Messi stated Aimar as one of his biggest influences. In terms of goal scoring, Messi also looked up to Brazilian icon Ronaldo.

Maradona was considered to be Argentina's greatest player, but the man himself said in 2006 that "(Messi) will inherit my place in Argentinian football".

Answer: Arsenal

Messi joined Barcelona's La Masia academy in 2002, although he did not break into the first team until 2004. During the 2002-03 season, Messi formed part of Barca's "Baby Dream Team" (in reference to Barcelona's 1992 European Cup winning side, known as the "Dream Team").

While Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique, who had formed part of the Baby Dream Team, moved to Arsenal and Manchester United respectively, Messi stayed at Barcelona. He would later be united with both of his former teammates in Catalonia.

Answer: 3rd

While Barcelona's fortunes drastically declined between 2006 and 2008, Messi used this time to establish himself as one of the world's best. His 2007 highlights included a hat-trick against Real Madrid and a Maradona-esque goal against Getafe in the Copa Del Rey.

Kaka won the 2007 Ballon d'Or with 444 points, with Messi's greatest rival Cristiano Ronaldo coming second with 277 points. Messi scored 255 points to finish in bronze position. It was the last time someone not named Messi or Ronaldo would win the award until 2018, when Luka Modric won it.

Answer: European Super Cup

2009 was the greatest year in Barcelona's history and in terms of trophies, was also Messi's finest year. The club won La Liga, the Copa Del Rey, Champions League, European Super Cup, Supercopa de Espana and the Club World Cup, achieving an unprecedented "sextuple".

Messi and Samuel Eto'o scored Barca's goals in the Champions League final, a 2-0 victory over Manchester United. In the Copa Del Rey finale against Athletic Club, Messi scored in Barcelona's 4-1 triumph. Messi scored the winner in the Club World Cup final as Barca defeated Estudiantes 2-1 in extra time.

Messi was Man of the Match in the 2009 European Super Cup against Shakhtar Donetsk but Pedro was the only goalscorer as Barca won 1-0, also in extra time.

Answer: Atletico Madrid

Barca had 99 points, winning 31 out of their 38 games while drawing six. The team finished three points ahead of Real Madrid who finished second. The team's only loss came on 14 February 2010 when Barca lost 2-1 to Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.

Barcelona defeated Real Madrid twice, while winning home and drawing away against Athletic Club and Valencia.

Answer: 77

Messi scored 31 goals in La Liga, only second behind Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo (40). He also had the most assists in La Liga with 18. Messi finished as the top scorer in the Champions League, scoring twelve times in thirteen games. He scores seven goals in as many games in the Copa Del Rey.

In total, Messi scored 53 goals and registered 24 assists in 2010-11. Barcelona won La Liga for a third straight year and Messi helped Barca to its fourth Champions League victory, defeating Manchester United 3-1 in the final.

Answer: Barcelona's all-time goalscorer

2012 was perhaps the finest calendar year that any individual football player has ever had. Messi scored 91 goals in total for club and country, scoring 79 of them for Barcelona and twelve for the Argentina national team. On 20 March 2012, Messi became the top scorer in Barca's history, a position previously held by Cesar Rodriguez for 57 years. He sealed the record with a hat-trick against Grenada.

Barca were eliminated in the semi-finals of the Champions League by eventual champions Chelsea, with Messi missing a vital penalty in the second leg. He wore the captain's armband for the first time on 17 March 2013 in a league game against Rayo Vallecano.

Answer: Alfredo Di Stefano

Di Stefano scored 18 times in Clasico games while his teammate Puskas netted 14 times against the Blaugrana. Raul was also clinical against Barcelona during his career, scoring 15 times in the famous game. By the time Cristiano Ronaldo left the Bernabeu in 2018, he had tied Di Stefano's 18 Clasico goals.

Answer: Scored in every group game

Messi started the tournament by scoring in Argentina's 2-1 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina. In the second group game, he scored a stoppage time winner as Argentina defeated Iran 1-0. He then scored twice in a 3-2 win over Nigeria.

Messi did not score in the knockouts and has always struggled in the later rounds of World Cups. He did qualify for the dream team, but so did his teammate Angel Di Maria. He was actually one of five South Americans to score twice in the tournament, alongside golden boot winner James Rodriguez (6), Ecuador's Enner Valencia (3), Chile's Alexis Sanchez and Colombia's Jackson Martinez (both 2).

Answer: Messi becomes the record assist maker in La Liga history

Messi registered his 106th assist in a 5-0 win over Levante on 15 February 2015, the highest amount since assists in La Liga have been recorded. Luis Figo had previously held the record. He scored an 11-minute hat-trick against Rayo Vallecano on 8 March 2015, his 32nd hat-trick in Spanish football and breaking a record held by Telmo Zarra.

In a 6-0 win over Getafe in April, Messi, Suarez and Neymar reached the 100 goal tally together. On 6 May 2015, Messi scored a now iconic goal against Bayern Munich where he chipped Manuel Neuer after his dribble saw Jerome Boateng hit the floor. The goal later won UEFA goal of the season.

Answer: 24

Messi had seven La Liga medals to his name, winning the league in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015. He had also won the Copa Del Rey on three occasions in 2009, 2012 and 2015. The 2015 Champions League was Messi's fourth, having won it in 2006, 2009 and 2011 as well.

Messi and Barcelona also won six Supercopa de Espana titles, taking the trophy in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013. As a result of their previous European successes, Barcelona also competed in the 2009 and 2011 UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, winning all four tournaments.

Answer: Arsenal

Barcelona were drawn against Arsenal in the round of 16 of the 2015-16 Champions League. Heading into the first leg at the Emirates Stadium on 23 February 2016, Barcelona had scored 9,998 goals in official competitions. Messi scored a double to give Barcelona a 2-0 lead and seal the club's landmark goal.

Atletico Madrid would go on to eliminate the Blaugrana in the quarter-finals, winning 3-2 on aggregate. Earlier in the competition Barcelona topped a group including Roma and Bayer Leverkusen.

Answer: Carles Puyol

Puyol made 593 appearances for Barcelona between 1999 and 2014. Messi's 594th appearance placed him third behind only Xavi and Iniesta. Xavi played 767 times for Barca between 1998 and 2015, leaving the Blaugrana as the club's all-time appearance maker.

In 2019, Messi overtook Iniesta as the club's second all-time appearance maker. Iniesta made 674 appearances for Barca between 2002 and 2018. Valdes left Barcelona in 2014 after making 535 appearances since 2002.

Answer: Ossie Ardiles

After Argentina's World Cup failure in 2018, which featured a 3-0 group stage loss to Croatia and a 4-3 loss to France in the Round of 16, Ardiles stated that "The squad is the worst in their history. Even having the best player in the world was not capable of creating a competitive team. All the decline of recent times was hidden by this unrivalled genius."

Answer: Messi sees himself as Catalan rather than Argentine

A huge part of Maradona's legacy in his homeland is that he was an extroverted hero from the slums. Messi on the other hand is a rather unremarkable man away from the pitch. Even though it is through no fault of his own, Messi did not develop in the Argentine Primera Division, meaning that he has found it difficult to connect directly to the fans at home.

Messi has been criticised in the past for a lack of passion for the national shirt, but any perception that he sees himself as Catalan is false. Messi once said "Argentina is my country, my family, my way of expressing myself. I would change all my records to make the people in my country happy."