The Chelsea player who once marked Lionel Messi out of the game in a position he barely played

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Chelsea and Barcelona have certainly had some classic encounters during the 21st century.

The European heavyweights have had multiple battles in the Champions League across the past couple of decades, where Chelsea have had mixed success against Barcelona.

Barcelona icon Lionel Messi, who’s still playing and shining with Inter Miami at the age of 38, was usually at the heart of the fierce rivalry with Chelsea in Europe.

In 10 career appearances against the Blues in the Champions League, the Argentine forward scored three goals and created three assists. However, he had a rare quiet day in one particular match against Chelsea in 2009.

Incidentally, Jose Mourinho persuaded Messi to join Chelsea in 2014, but the move never happened because parties involved in the deal couldn’t reach an agreement.

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Jose Bosingwa once marked Lionel Messi out of the game

Back on 28 April 2009, Chelsea played at the Camp Nou against Barcelona in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final, but they were without Ashley Cole due to suspension.

Remarkably, then-Blues manager Guus Hiddink played Portuguese right-back Jose Bosingwa in an unfamiliar role at left-back, which pitted him directly against superstar Messi. He surprised everyone by delivering an excellent defensive performance in the 0-0 draw.

Speaking after Chelsea’s goalless draw away against Barcelona, Blues goalkeeper Petr Cech raved about Bosingwa’s impact. He said via The Daily Mail in April 2009: “The biggest compliment should go to Jose [Bosingwa] because I think it was the second time in his life that he played at left back and it was against Messi. But you couldn’t see Messi on the pitch today.”

Chelsea fans won’t need reminding that they would end up exiting the competition in cruel fashion when Andres Iniesta’s late goal earned Barcelona a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge in the second leg, sealing their progression via the away goal rule.

After the draw in the first leg, Hiddink also highlighted Chelsea’s defensive performance to nullify Messi, who scored 38 goals across all competitions for Barcelona in the 2008/09 season.

Hiddink told BBC Sport: “Messi was rather well neutralised tactically. Bosingwa did a good job and had some help from Florent Malouda on the left side and good support from the centre as well when Messi cut inside.”

Jose Bosingwa delivered on the big occasion

Even though Bosingwa isn’t comparable to some of the great Chelsea full-backs such as Cesar Azpilicueta and Branislav Ivanovic, he still had some huge moments with the club.

Bosingwa, who played for the Blues between 2008 and 2012, won five trophies during 126 appearances.

On top of his classic individual battle against Messi and the great Barcelona team, he also started Chelsea’s famous triumph in 2012 when they beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. He’s gone down in the history books as part of the first Chelsea side to become champions of Europe’s elite club competition.

Despite the fact Bosingwa’s peak was at Porto before his move to West London, he left an impressive legacy at Chelsea.