The GOAT Lionel Messi’s dazzling goal, against Manchester City on matchday 2, won the award for the best goal of the group stage in the UEFA Champions League 2021-2022. The Argentine superstar tallied his maiden goal for his French club PSG against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League. In the 84th minute of the match, he scored a spectacular goal with a curved shot from outside the D-box. That goal of Messi got the status of the best group stage goal this time. “He is invincible”, said Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City manager, in the post-match conference.
UEFA, the governing body of European football and host of the Champions League, released a shortlist of 10 goals on 13 December to select the best goals of the current group stage of the league. Today, December 16, was the last day to vote. According to UEFA, Messi’s goal is the best in the group stage of this year’s Champions League.
Approximately 200,000 votes were cast in the best goal election. Messi’s goal was selected as the best with a maximum of 22 percent of the vote. The second highest was the goal of Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara against Porto, with 14 percent of the vote.
Below is the complete list of all the 10 goals nominated for the UEFA Champions League Best Goal of the Group Stage.
| Sl. | Name of the Player | Match | Vote Tally |
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Paris 2-0 Manchester City | 22% |
| 2 | Thiago Alcántara | Liverpool 2-0 Porto | 14% |
| 3 | Robert Lewandowski | Dynamo Kyiv 1-2 Bayern | 13% |
| 4 | Alex Telles | Manchester United 2-1 Villarreal | 12% |
| 5 | Vinícius Júnior | Shakhtar 0-5 Real Madrid | 10% |
| 6 | Marco Asensio | Real Madrid 2-0 Inter | 10% |
| 7 | Sébastien Thill | Real Madrid 1-2 Sheriff | 8% |
| 8 | Mason Greenwood | Manchester United 1-1 Young Boys | 7% |
| 9 | Adama Traore | Sheriff 2-0 Shakhtar | 3% |
| 10 | Lukas Nmecha | Wolfsburg 2-1 Salzburg | 1% |
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