Best Goal Ever: The story so far

The Best Goal Ever has reached its round of 16 and things are really heating up. This Monday we’ll start deciding the quarter finalists, so if you haven’t been voting already, now’s the time to start!

In the meantime, he’s a look at some conclusions that can be drawn from the voting so far.

1- How much a goal means

It is often the meaning of a goal rather than its quality that makes it so memorable, and that tells in Best Goal Ever. Carles Puyol’s goal against Real Madrid might not have been the most spectacular one ever scored, but it means a lot more to fans than Romario’s legendary ‘cow tail’ goal. The same goes for Sergi Roberto, whose late strike against PSG topped Alexis Sánchez’s stunning overhead kick against Real Madrid.

2- Messi versus Messi

Leo Messi is everywhere. His name alone is enough to win rounds. With 585 goals, he gave us a lot to choose from and in the round of 16 we get our first Messi v Messi match-up. His ‘Maradona-esque’ goal against Getafe, one of the favourites to win the whole thing, will be taking on his free kick against Celta.

3- Two Champions League winners

Best Goal Ever also shows how much Europe means to the fans, with two goals from finals among the survivors. Ronald Koeman’s free kick against Sampdoria squeezed out Messi’s ‘goal with the crest’ against Estudiantes with 57%, and Ivan Rakitic’s goal against Juve in Berlin was also a close winner, 53%, against a goal from Hristo Stoichkov.

4- Ronalinho, sole Brazilian

Some of Barça’s greatest goals over the years have come from our different Brazilians, so it’s surprising to see the likes of Romario, Ronaldo and Rivaldo all fall by the wayside, and only Ronaldinho left in the competition. He’s there twice, once for his goals against Sevilla and once for the one that earned the applause of the Bernabéu.

5- Messi beats Maradona

The battle of the two greatest Argentinians, Messi and Diego Maradona, was one for the most fascinating of the last round, but Messi flew into the last sixteen with 70% of the votes for his free-kick against Celta de Vigo compared to 30% for Diego’s goal against Red Star. With almost 16,000 clicks, the Messi goal was the most popular of the round.

 6- Rexach ousted by Messi

Carles Rexach suffered the most resounding defeat of the round. It was never going to be easy against Messi’s famous goal in the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, but 95% to 5% defeat was amazingly conclusive.

7- Messi favourite

Messi is the out and out favourite to scoop the Best Goal Ever title. Seven of the 16 goals left in the competition came from him. Remarkable.

WHO SCORED BARÇA’S BEST GOAL EVER?