Lionel Messi's fastest career goals

Each year, Lionel Messi seems to spend more and more time walking through matches. However, long before it became an energy-preserving strategy, the Argentine maestro would always amble through the opening minutes.

Ernesto Valverde, Messi’s Barcelona manager for two and a half years, explained how his skipper would analyse the opposition during the opening exchanges: "Then, as the game advances, he gets in little by little. But he knows perfectly where the rivals’ weaknesses are."

Despite scoring more than 800 goals for club and country, Messi has never found the net in the opening minute of the contest. Here are the fastest efforts he has been able to register.

Lionel Messi's fastest career goals

6. Slavia Prague 1-2 Barcelona (2019) - 2 minutes, 45 seconds

Messi opened the scoring against rank outsiders Slavia Prague but Barcelona needed an own goal to narrowly squeak a victory in the 2019 Champions League group-stage game.

Across Messi's final four seasons at Barcelona, he rifled in 26 Champions League goals. The next-most prolific scorer for the Catalans went by the tag OG, with the opposition finding their own net eight times - which is more than Luis Suarez (seven) or anyone else could manage.

5. Barcelona 7-0 Celtic (2016) - 2 minutes, 44 seconds

For once, someone in the room did a better impression of David Brent than Brendan Rodgers. When quizzed on the comparison between Barcelona's talisman and Scotland's most famous sea serpent, Rodgers shrugged: "I don't really know so much about the Loch Ness monster but I know Lionel Messi is a brilliant player."

Messi underscored his mythic talent within three minutes of Barcelona's Champions League group game against Celtic in 2016, netting the first of his three goals in a 7-0 rout.

4. Racing Santander 0-3 Barcelona (2010) - 2 minutes, 35 seconds

Unlike the hulking Swede that had been shoved into the middle of Barcelona's front line, Messi was no fan of confrontation. During Zlatan Ibrahimovic's opening months in Spain, Messi reportedly texted his manager Pep Guardiola while the pair were on the same team bus: "I can see that I am no longer important to the team."

Ibrahimovic was keen to leave as well by the summer of 2010, forcing his way out the day before the new season. Exactly 155 seconds into the campaign, Messi finished off a crisp move to put Barcelona 1-0 up against Racing Santander - starting the season in the imperious style that Messi and his newly flexible side would continue throughout.

"This team is even better than last year," Racing coach Miguel-Angel Portugal lamented.

3. Nigeria 2-3 Argentina (2014) - 2 minutes, 25 seconds

Having hauled Argentina past Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran in the opening two games of the 2014 World Cup, Messi stepped up again against Nigeria. Argentina's captain bundled in an early opener only to watch his teammates concede an equaliser within 80 seconds.

Angel Di Maria described the rest of the team as solely there to 'support' their number ten but few offered him much help en route to an unsuccessful final.

Yet, to reach Messi's level is a tall order. As Nigeria's manager Stephen Keshi gushed: "Messi is one hell of a player. You can't take it away from him. He is from Jupiter. He is different."

2. Barcelona 3-0 Chelsea (2018) - 2 minutes, 6 seconds

Across the two legs of the 2018 Champions League last 16 tie, Thibaut Courtois couldn't keep his long limbs closed.

Messi was so mesmeric in the 3-0 home victory, nutmegging Courtois with his right foot after two minutes and with his left in the 64th, that Chelsea's manager Antonio Conte sought out the Barcelona captain at the final whistle.

Still on a high from Messi's masterclass, Conte told the post-match press conference: "When you have the opportunity to make a great compliment to Messi, i'’s right to praise a super, super, super top player."

1. Argentina 2-0 Australia (2023) - 1 minute, 19 seconds

A purely commercial friendly between Australia and Argentina hot on the heels of the European season's conclusion was not the most naturally attractive fixture. Yet, 68,000 fans crammed into Beijing's Workers' Stadium with feverish excitement.

"I just really hope that Lionel Messi gets a little percentage of the shirt sales," Australia manager Graham Arnold joked before kick-off. "I've never seen so many Argentine number-ten shirts in my life."

Messi needed just one minute and 19 seconds to give his adoring public what they had come to see - bending a deceptively fierce shot beyond Matt Ryan's dive from the edge of the box.

After finding the net during the time he would normally wander around assessing his opponents, Messi took it upon himself to stroll through the remainder of the non-contest.