Napoli set to become Messi's 40th Champions League opponent

Napoli set to become Messi's 40th Champions League opponent

El Barcelona viajará a Madrid para El Clásico siendo líder de LaLiga
El Barcelona viajará a Madrid para El Clásico siendo líder de LaLiga | EFE

The Barcelona captain has scored 114 goals in 140 games in the competition

Lionel Messi will take on his 40th rival in the Champions League on Tuesday when Barcelona meet Gennaro Gattuso's Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo, where Diego Maradona played his best years. 

Messi, since making his debut in the competition, has faced 39 teams from 16 countries and has played 140 games (83 wins) and scored 114 goals. 

Napoli will be the sixth Italian side Messi has faced after Udinese (1 game and 0 goals), Inter (4 and 0), Milan (8 and 8), Juventus (5 and 2) and Roma (4 and 2). In total, Messi's played 22 games against Italian sides and scored 12 goals. He won half of those games (11) and lost four.  

He has faced English teams the most. The Argentine international has played a total of 34 games against Premier League sides spread in the following way: Chelsea (10 games), Manchester United (6), Arsenal (6), Manchester City (6), Liverpool (4) and Tottenham (2).

Meanwhile, Messi will play his 15th last 16 game. So far he has scored seven goals at this stage of the competition. 

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