Barcelona superstar, Lionel Messi through the years: As the Barcelona superstar prepares to take the field on English soil again.
- Lionel Messi is set to play on English soil again as Barcelona face Manchester City on Tuesday evening
- The world's best player has racked up an incredible 89 Champions League goals to add to 319 in La Liga
- After failing to score in his first seven matches in England, Messi has since scored four in five games here
- Sportsmail looks back at the Argentine superstar's 13 seasons as a professional ahead of Tuesday's game
When Lionel Messi first appeared on English soil a little over a decade ago, the nation got its first taste of a player who would go on to prove himself as the world's greatest.
On Tuesday night at Manchester City the opportunity arises again in the latest of 13 seasons of tormenting and terrorising defences in Spain and across the continent.
Pep Guardiola, his former mentor who is now an opponent, ranks the diminutive Argentine as 'almost unplayable' - he certainly proved as much in the reverse fixture, a 4-0 win for Barcelona when City visited a fortnight ago.
Lionel Messi celebrates scoring against Manchester City in the Champions League a fortnight before facing them again
The Argentine forward has change dramatically since his Barcelona debut, pictured here as a 17-year-old in October 2004
Messi has scored four goals in his last five matches on English soil, including one at the Etihad Stadium - which hosts him on Tuesday - two years ago. Before that he had not scored in seven in England, but the 29-year-old almost always leaves a mark.
A first appearance here came in February 2006, away at Chelsea, where his incredible ball control led to the turning of the game when Asier del Horno's rash challenge earned a red card.
By that time there was already talk of his talent following a first senior goal in May 2005 but still few would have predicted the rise which saw Messi hit 91 goals in 69 appearances in the calendar year of 2012 - a record.
Eight La Liga titles, four Champions League wins, four Copa del Reys and five Ballon d'Ors claimed mark him out at the outstanding player of a generation.
Here, Sportsmail looks back at Messi's career year-by-year to see just how much he has changed as an English side prepare to put up the barricades to stop the almost-unstoppable once again.
Messi broke into the first team at Barcelona during the 2004-05 season and became their youngest-ever scorer in May 2005
Messi began to establish himself as a first-team regular under Frank Rijkaard in 2005-06 but he was curtailed by injury
By the 2006-07 campaign, Messi scored 17 goals in 36 games and would score his first Clasico hat-trick against Real Madrid
Messi managed to score 16 goals during the 2007–08 season but failed to help Barcelona to success with major trophies
In the 2008-09 season, Messi scored 38 goals in 51 games as he hit top form to guide Barcelona to the Champions League
The Argentine hit 47 goals in 2009-10 and Barcelona would make it an incredible six trophies in the calendar year of 2009
Messi was the key again as Barcelona waltzed to a second Champions League in three years under Pep Guardiola in 2010-11
The 2011-12 season was Messi's most-productive in front of goal, with the Argentine scoring 73 times in just 60 appearances
Messi celebrates a goal scored during the 2012-13 season by which time he was long established as Barcelona's focal point
In 2013-14, he overtook Paulino Alcantara's 369-goal record to become Barcelona's top goalscorer in all competitions
More records fell in 2014-15: Messi became all-time La Liga top scorer and the top scorer in Champions League history
Messi poses with his fifth Ballon d'Or after being crowned as the world's greatest player once again in January of this year
The new season has started with Messi sporting a new blond haircut, but his regular goal output remains much the same
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