Messi and the other best freekick takers in football history LaLiga Santander - FC Barcelona He has now scored with 42 direct freekicks

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi delivered a laser freekick against PSV Eindhoven during the Champions League group stage opener, once again proving he can be considered as one of the best freekick takers in history.

The Dutch team's head coach Mark van Bommel tried to neutralise the power of Messi by placing a man behind the wall to prevent the Argentine from shooting low.

Van Brommel's trick, however, remained an anecdote because Messi was able to pull it off again, masterfully beating Jeroen Zoet by going over the wall placing the ball in the top corner.

The No.10 has now registered a total of 42 direct freekick goals throughout his professional career - 36 with Barcelona and six more with Argentina's national team.

His versatility and execution make him an absolutely unpredictable player.

He can score with height, to the left or the right, down the middle, underneath, short or long.

Messi is able to send the ball into the net from any angle, no matter where it is located.

The Argentine has been perfecting his technique for quite some time, especially at the Camp Nou.

During his first years at the club he was in the shadow of players like Ronaldinho or Zlatan Ibrahimovic and, if he was ever given the opportunity, his conversion rate was low.

His first success came in 2008 against Atletico Madrid, but he would not covert another freekick until over a year later against Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League.

From that moment on, his effectiveness increased significantly. But what had changed?

The turning point came during a camp with the Argentina national team in 2009 when Diego Maradona approached a young and struggling Messi and offered some advice.

Today Messi is an accomplished specialist at the height of the best.

Making a ranking of the best free kick takers in history is not an easy task, as there are many players who deserve to enter the top 10.

Pele, Assuncao, Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero, Alvaro Recoba, Rogerio Ceni, Teofilo Cubillas, Rivaldo, Michel Platini, Bernd Schuster, Milinko Pantic, Vassily Tsartas, Zinedine Zidane and more.

We highlight 10 of the great freekick takers, including Messi, below.

Roberto Carlos

Roberto Carlos had a missile of a left leg.

He scored 25 goals from direct freekicks in his 11 years as a Real Madrid player.

There have been many players with more goals than him, but the Brazilian went down in history because of the incredible free kick against France in 1997, a goal that defied the laws of physics.

Lionel Messi

Messi has scored a direct freekick in five of the six club competitions in which he has participated.

He has 26 in LaLiga, four in the Champions League, three in the Copa Del Rey, two in the UEFA Super Cup and one in the Supercopa de Espana.

Overall this season, his success rate is 22 percent.

Andrea Pirlo

A true master in the specialty, the Italian converted 43 direct freekick throughout his exceptional career.

Sanisa Mihajlovic

Considered by many as the best freekick taker in Europe, the Serbian developed his skill in Italy and produced more than 50 goals from direct shots.

His greatest feat was when he converted three freekicks in one game against Sampdoria.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Another of the greatest kickers of all, the Juventus striker has bagged 56 goals from direct freekicks so far.

He managed 14 (one of them indirect) with Manchester United, 34 with Real Madrid and eight with the Portugal national team.

He is the player who has scored the most in the Champions League, with 12.

Diego Maradona

Maradona scored 62 goals from freekicks.

Each foul in the vicinity of the net was basically considered a goal.

David Beckham

The Englishman was another of the great specialists in this facet of the game.

Beckham scored 65 goals from freekicks throughout his career.

Ronaldinho

He was pure fantasy with a ball at his feet.

That magic radiated every time he came in contact with the ball and was also seen in freekicks.

The Brazilian has converted 66 throughout his career.

Juninho

Junhiho scored 76 goals from direct freekicks.

His best record was achieved with Vasco de Gama and Lyon.

With the Brazilian team he converted 18 and with the French side 44.

In addition, he had produced another four with the Brazilian national team.

Zico

Zico's numbers in this area are huge.

He made 62 with Flamengo, 17 with Udinese, 15 with Kashima and seven with Brazil.

The total figure rises to 101 goals from direct freekicks.

There are many of today's players who can boast a better conversion rate than the 10 players just listed, but they have yet to reach their peak.

Footballers like Enis Bardhi, Paulo Dybala, Iago Aspas, Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann or Miralem Pjanic have percentages very close to or greater than 20 percent, an absolute barbarity.

However, we'll still have to wait and see if they can enter the prestigious club of the best freekick takers in the world.