Drogba recalls Chelsea dressing room laughter at Messi's 63-goal tally

Sixty-three goals. That was the figure displayed on a screen in the Chelsea dressing room that prompted Didier Drogba and his teammates to burst out laughing, according to the Ivorian striker’s autobiography.

The pre-match routine disrupted

Roberto Di Matteo, then managing Chelsea, had established a habit of presenting the squad with a list of the opposing team’s top scorers ahead of each match week. The Italian coach wanted his players to identify exactly where the threat lay. Typically, names like Wayne Rooney, who had netted 22 goals, or Robin van Persie, with 15, would appear on the sheet.

This standard procedure continued until the semi-finals of the 2012 Champions League, when Chelsea faced Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. The statistical breakdown for the Catalan side triggered an unexpected reaction among the London club’s players.

Messi’s numbers defy belief

Drogba recounted the moment in comments published by Sport newspaper. He noted that Xavi appeared third on the list with 14 goals, while Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas shared second place with 15 goals each. However, the atmosphere shifted dramatically when the name of the team’s leading scorer appeared: Lionel Messi, with 63 goals, including 14 in the Champions League.

"We all started laughing," Drogba said. "63 goals that season? It was such an exaggerated figure that we looked at each other, unable to believe it." The former Chelsea striker emphasized that the laughter stemmed from disbelief rather than mockery. His teammates found the number simply impossible to process. Drogba even took a photograph of the statistic because it seemed so absurd to him.

Historic records and final outcomes

The context of those figures highlights Messi’s unprecedented output. He concluded that campaign with 73 official goals for Barcelona, 50 of which came in La Liga, setting a historic record for the competition. By the end of 2012, he had accumulated 91 goals for both Barcelona and his national team, surpassing the previous record held by Gerd Muller.

Despite the staggering statistics, Chelsea managed to halt Messi’s progress in that specific tie. The English side won the first leg 1-0 at Stamford Bridge thanks to a goal from Drogba. In the return fixture at Camp Nou, Barcelona led 2-0 through strikes from Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta. Chelsea, reduced to ten men after John Terry’s dismissal, mounted a comeback. Ramires scored before halftime, and Fernando Torres equalized in stoppage time to send the match into extra time.

Messi had opportunities to alter the result, but his penalty hit the crossbar and another attempt struck the post. He finished that Champions League tournament with 14 goals—the exact number that had astonished the Chelsea squad earlier. Ultimately, Chelsea advanced to the final and defeated Bayern Munich on penalties to claim the title. Drogba played a decisive role, scoring the equalizer and converting his spot-kick during the shootout.

Fourteen years later, the anecdote remains a vivid illustration of the difficulty opponents faced in comprehending Messi’s productivity at his peak. Even seasoned professionals struggled to accept the sheer volume of goals he produced.