Former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi has faced some of the best teams in world football during his illustrious 20-year career and has been part of a host of memorable games at both club and international level.

Messi, speaking to Catalan newspaper RAC1, snubbed Real Madrid and named the Spain national team when asked about the strongest rival he's ever come up against. He also highlighted a friendly in 2009 – won 2-1 by La Roja – as a game that really surprised him.

Messi only faced the Spanish national team three times in his career, and never in a major tournament. All three meetings between Argentina and La Roja in which Messi featured were friendlies, with the latest one taking place in 2010.

It was the only time Messi's Argentina defeated Spain, clinching a 4-1 win with goals from Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and the ex-Barcelona man himself.