After seeing his penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois in PSG’s 1-0 win against Real Madrid on Tuesday, Lionel Messi has tied Thierry Henry for the most missed penalties in Champions League history.
After Kylian Mbappe was hauled down inside the box by Dani Carvajal, the Argentine had a fantastic opportunity to break the deadlock at the Parc des Princes, but his low-driven attempt was parried away.
Missed Penalties by Messi
Messi, who has 679 goals in 799 games, has now missed five of his 23 attempts from the penalty spot in Europe’s top club competition, tying him with former Barcelona teammate and Arsenal star Henry.
While Messi is regarded as one of the best goal scorers of all time, the 35-year-old appears to have a poor track record when it comes to scoring from 12 yards out. That was Messi’s fourth spot-kick save in the Champions League, with his previous attempt crashing off the crossbar.
In LaLiga, Messi missed 14 penalties in 74 attempts while his record in the Copa del Rey was shocking, given he missed more than he scored. In the Spanish cup competition, Messi missed a total of six penalties from nine attempts, netting just three times in total.
During the Match
Following PSG’s 1-0 win against Monaco on Tuesday, Courtois stated that he had been studying Messi’s penalty kicks in preparation for the game, despite losing a last-gasp winner to Mbappe.
Courtois told BT Sport: “In these kinds of games you know that, as a goalkeeper, you’re going to have quite a bit to do. I’d studied Messi’s penalties a lot and I tried to play with him when I was on the line. You’ve also got to have that little bit of luck, too.”
Messi has struggled at times during his first season with PSG, but he has scored four goals in his last four games. On Tuesday, it was Mbappe who carried the strain, hitting a magnificent individual goal in stoppage time to win the match.
